Until Dawn
by Blaze ocean dragon
Summary: There are many adventures in this world of ours, but some Pokemon seem to get them more than others. Though whether they want to get into them or not is a different question altogether...
1. Of Ray and Chulu

-The Cores of Existence-

**Act 1 – Prologue**

**Chapter 1**

**-**

**--**

**-**

Ray gazed up into the yellow and red clouds surrounding the setting sun, his tail and ears twitching to some silent, unknown beat. His amber eyes were opened only a crack to catch the fading sun's rays, and the Raichu was curled up into a position that those who saw him would've thought him asleep.

To those we did, knew he was simply thinking.

The Raichu smiled slightly, admiring the beautiful blood-bathed scenery spread out before him. He could see the roof of the forest, a sea of tree tops normally green, now painted with beautiful autumn colors from the brush of an invisible god. It was a perfect scene for Ray, the giant orb that was usually above them in its full majesty, now reduced to a semicircle, as if all the beauty and radiance it emitted before was now being concentrated through only half the space, bathing the world in the twilight beauty before it finally departed from their sights. It was all so poetic to him, dulling his pains and making him forget his worries in the blaze of light before final darkness.

It was always the same.

He heard music that rang true to his soul each day, and yet he could never quite display it in mortal ways, whether on paper or with his inadequate skills on the unlikely circumstance he could find a musical instrument he could actually play with his small paws. And soon enough, the music would fade out of his memory, never to be found again…

He remembered what had begun it all; a traveling human, who happened to set up camp and begin to play his music near the glen where he, as a young Pikachu at the time, had lived. The strange notes enthralled him, as nothing else before had. It resonated with his soul, entrapping him. At once, he knew that if the man left, he would also; it was as simple, and yet as complex as that.

The man had been kind, lucky for him, and had not minded an audience for his playing. Past the age of allusions of becoming a Pokemon Master, he traveled across the lands playing his music and seeing the world. The two had became friends quickly, and for many months you could not see one without the other; the traveling peddler, wishing no more for his life than to see the world, and the music infatuated mouse following close behind.

And then, one day, the man had died. The police had been baffled by it, and though the case was followed for several days, nothing came out of it. The man had no permanent residence any more, no living family and only accessed his bank account sparsely, taking out sums of money to sustain him for the next month or so. He had disappeared without a word, witness or suspect; and soon enough, the case was filed away and forgotten.

But Ray knew the truth.

The man had once been a worker at Sliph Co., the largest laboratory and supplier of technology for the entire Kanto region. Before he quit, he was a high-ranked scientist in charge of several important projects, some so high security it would be illegal for him to utter a word of their existence outside the Silph property unless to one with the clearance to know of it. It was no secret the criminal organization, Team Rocket, envied the projects of Silph. And, it did not take them long to track down one of their Ex employees.

Four men, dressed totally in black garb with a crimson 'R' displayed proudly on their chests, intercepted him while he was out in the country. They had beat them, brutally; and when Ray had fought back to defend his friend, he too, had been knocked out cold. When he awoke, he was in a small, cold cage and the next he heard of his friend was where they were going to dispose of the body.

It was then that Ray made a silent, subconscious oath that Team Rocket would die. He was unaware he had even made it; simply that his mind had resolved to, like they had killed his one and only friend, the one he considered to be his true family, he would kill them.

He had spent roughly a year under control of Team Rocket. They had sent their best tamers to break him; it was only through sheer determination he didn't die from wounds inflicted. He didn't care; whether he died or lived, he would not give in to them, those who had killed his friend. They had evolved him only weeks after his capture, and though it had taken him a while to get used to the sheer new raw power that his new form granted him, it didn't change anything in the long run. He still fought back, even more now that his stamina was increased.

Eventually, it was decided he was not worth the pains of training.

He had been sold on the black market to a separate Rocket laboratory, where experiments were conducted on Live Pokemon. Several chemicals were tested on him; none, luckily having any permanent affects on him. He had been injected with types of steroids, and forced to attack other innocent Pokemon such as him to determine which chemical worked better. His mind has been clouded in a haze of rage, directed by the drugs applied to him to any living thing. Only every so often would he be in his right mind, to lament on what had drawn him to live out his existence in a place like this, and to rage at those who had put them here.

Then, he had met Narc.

He remembered the day, when a massive troupe of officers had come to the laboratory and shut it down. The struggle had been great, but in the end the Scientists who ran it were not fighters; they went down quickly, and were brought out into custody. The police and the volunteers brought with them released any Pokemon caged that looked right in their mind, and sedated those who looked still enraged.

And of course, the one who released him had to be an obnoxious, self-righteous, womanizing Quilava that apparently was having trouble seeing at the moment. In short, he had been mistaken for a female.

It was doubtful either ever forgot the encounter. Ray found himself being hit on by his (male) rescuer, and then proceeded to smash his face in, and Narc (whom it turned out, was the name of the Quilava) discovered that he should probably wipe all the dirt from his eyes before assigning a gender to something that had been abused and injected with various rage hormones for months.

When Ray awoke from his drug-induced sleep, he had discovered that the trainer of the obnoxious Quilava had offered to look after the Raichu to be sure that all the rage inducers and chemicals had been purged successfully from the small mammal's body. At first he had resisted –heavily- Having shocked his new caretaker more times than he thought was humanly possible to withstand. Eventually, the young male had gotten it into his head to start wearing rubber. That was when he started using his teeth and tail.

He had managed to run away, several times. Unfortunately, each time he would soon find himself hunted down by the resident police's Growlithe, or –as he thought, seething to himself- that obnoxious Quilava (that seemed to always have something witty to say each time he pounced on the smaller rodent… jackass…). After all, he was still (as Narc kindly pointed out) under watch for long-term mental effects from taking the drugs. Somewhere along the line, he had stopped resisting. He could place exactly why (Outside of it being an obvious waste of time and energy) but he stopped. Not to say he stopped taking a punch at the infuriating fire type whenever he could, but he stopped trying to run away at any chance.

Right now, he had been with the others for almost a month now. They hadn't done much, and this was their biggest venture yet, into the wilderness and away from civilization. He could run away now –perhaps out-maneuver the irritating Quilava-..Although that would render him helpless to whatever wildlife surrounded the area.

He sighed. He supposed he would have to get used to an entourage.

The raichu stood up, walking away from the picturesque scenery to sit down again at the camp they had set up. His trainer- a sandy haired boy looking about 15- was busy trying to start a fire with a pair of rocks, while Narc looked on boredly, fully aware that he would probably decide to burn the boy along with the sticks in the pit if asked to light it himself.

Two other Pokemon were also there, a strange group by any account. There was a female Kadabra apparently named Tiris, who spent most of her time meditating in the corner. A female Buizel named Timeria, who had been kept in the same lab as he had (although for a significantly shorter time) watched Narc warily, ready to douse any fires he might decide to make, or just if he started hitting on her again. None of them gave any sort of recognition when he sat near them, picking at a nut he had found earlier.

He paused when he caught the eye of the newest addition to their team.

A strange Tentacool, named Chulu, picked up on a whim by Sean. The being seemed to know nothing, and harmed nobody. But he had the strange… radiance about him.

Ray shuddered.

**- - -**

I was.

It was as simple, and yet as complex as that. I felt, although I had no body. I thought, though I had no physical mind. And yet, I neither registered this, nor cared at the time. All I knew was that I was, and that existing was good. And for that one moment, I was content.

And then, all of a sudden, I felt. Pain consumed me, and clouded my mind, though I had naught other to think about anyway. It was excruciating pain, far beyond what most mortals could take without dying, or at least wishing themselves dead. And yet, I didn't mind as I knew the pain was now a definition of me. It created me. And I endured, as that was all I knew how to do.

Soon, the pain lessened until it was nothing but a twinge of discomfort, which was then soon forgotten. With the haze cleared, I could see clearly what the source of my pain had been; infinite amounts of pictures, engraving themselves into my mind at breakneck speed and searing new knowledge into my memory. And yet, these individual pictures meant nothing to me; they were nothing but links in a chain, individual pieces of a puzzle that did nothing by themselves, but when placed in the correct order became a complete memory. It was not long until complete memories formed in my mind, still fragments of a larger whole but infinitely more useful than the individual links. The larger whole was quickly coming into being now, a definite shape forming, and now usable aside from a few gaping holes that were being filled quickly by the influx of information. Eventually, the full puzzle appeared before me, and I knew who and what I was, why I was there and all else. I now truly was as I was before, as I possessed all the thoughts, beliefs and memories of the one before me, and I knew it was my duty to exist as my precesstor did.

Then, suddenly, the pain returned. It was different than it was before; this one was a haze of pure red, and unlike the first pain, this one hailed destruction with it instead of creation. The matrix of information I had seen created before me was blocked off by a thick fog, and I could do nothing but struggle in the searing discomfort. It may have lasted no more than half a second, or a millennia; I could not tell. Still, the shroud soon lifted, revealing shambles of the network I had suffered to create. Scattered links were everywhere, and massive holes appeared where there had once been an orderly system of

bound memories. I had little time to dwell on it, however, as my physical form appeared and manifest.

The first thing I saw was water. Lots of water, stretching off into the azure distance. I remembered water; water was home. It was safe; water was good.

The next thing I saw were mounds of brown, sticking upwards from the water. Those were rocks, as I recalled, and were nowhere near as safe or as good as water. From the very back of my mind, several links conflicted with the images I saw. Rocks were not supposed to be that large, I felt, and suddenly I felt a strange sensation from my midsection, radiating outwards through my entire body. No link or memory fragment provided a clue to the identity of the sensation, so I put it to the back of my mind.

The third thing I noticed was my own body; from the scraps of memory I had, I knew it was different than my original one, although in what ways I knew not. It was a small and compact affair, quite dwarfed by the jagged rocks ahead, with two strange small appendages dangling underneath it, affixed to a point at the bottom I could not see. They were long and flowed easily in the water, and I soon found I could control them using a different part of my mind. I used them to move through the water; however, I soon found that a dull pain-like sensation came from them when I moved them too much, or against the flow of the water. I soon found it easier to just drift in the waters, moving towards wherever the overbearing blueness flowed.

Soon, I knew I was not alone. I did not see them, as they were out of my line of sight, but I soon found I was able to identify things in the water without having to lay eyes on them. Many were like me, with small rounded bodies and two long tentacles, but there were some others different. Some were longer, and had shorter flaps of flesh attached to the main body. Others were so strangely shaped, so complex, that I couldn't even begin to comprehend or understand why they all were as they were.

I contemplated while gazing in wonder at the assortment around me, when I suddenly had a new thought, something I had thought insignificant before but now glared before me. What now? What was my purpose? For I knew, from the shattered remains of my mind, that everything had to have a purpose. So, If I had one, what was it? My memories didn't tell.

Suddenly, I felt the soft drifting of the water wane, then finally come to an abrupt stop, the calm weightlessness giving into a sharp physical solid-ness. From what I saw, they were also rocks, but of a much different shape than the ones before. And these were massive; not quite stretching into the horizon, but curving around just around the boarders of sight. It wasn't tall like the rocks were either; it was more…flat, almost like the water was, but solid. Several things, irregularities in shape, size and color were there too…and organisms, even more strange than the ones I had already seen.

Just then I noticed an object dangling in front of me, small ovular and with a bright silver sheen. I found myself instinctively drawn towards it, like I had been to nothing else; it was an oddity, a curious oddity. Almost without meaning to, I wrapped my tentacles around it and placed it within an opening positioned near my eyes –what I remembered as a mouth.

The effect was immediate. As soon as the silver orb was firmly clenched in my beak, it jolted upwards by a thin strand of something I had not noticed before. I let it pull me up without resistance, and was startled to see the thin strand attached to a long pole, which in turn was held by one of the strange land-organisms. Upon seeing me, it gave a mighty yank, pulling me entirely from the water below and onto the land. Instinctively, I repelled myself from the ground using my mind; although I hadn't understood how to do it before. I subconsciously attributed it to one of the memories partially intact.

The strange organism seemed excited, and only then I managed to take in the details. I could tell it was male, and from a faint memory that it belonged to a species called "human", but other than that I could not deduce anything about it, or why it seemed excited at my appearance.

"Tiris, Go!" it yelled, slightly with a small amount of some – what seemed to be labeled – emotion. The word itself aroused curiosity, as I could feel even if I had my entire memory, I would know little of what it was, and stowed It away in the back of my mind for later.

The 'human' drew a small orb of sorts from a hidden storage space somewhere on his person, and tossed it into the air (inexplicably increasing in size, which I took notice of). In a moment, it disappeared in a bright flash or light, and in its place was a strange, yellow being.

If possible, this was even more confusing than the Human was. Either I had never known what this was, or the memory was lost, for I had no idea what it could be, except that it was part of a massive grouping of creatures known as "Pokemon". A strange feeling I had told me that perhaps I also fit into that group…however, the Human did not.

"Confusion!" the human yelled. I physically blinked at that; what was the point of yelling out a random word, although now I was sure I could understand what the human was trying to convey. Suddenly though, I was brought out of my thoughts by a powerful pain wracking my mind.

A _burning _pain. I let out a mental screech, which probably transcended to physical as well. It was nowhere near what I had felt at the start of my creation; and yet, the pain felt worse now, when I knew I had a mind and body to think of. I felt…_rage_, which I knew to be an emotion, one I knew particularly well.

The strange yellow being was now visibly concentrating, its eyes a deep violet. I now knew it was the source of the pain; and once again, almost without meaning it, I lashed back mentally.

Apparently, the organism had not been expecting that, as it immediately released its hold on my thoughts and stumbled backwards. My own assault had ended as quickly as it began, and we were now on equal footing. My mind registered this as a battle; something it knew well.

The yellow being recovered more quickly, and apparently disappeared from view, before a renewed assault began on my cranium. This time, I found I was unable to strike back; I was too…weak. It was a concept new to my mind. So, like I did at the beginning of my mind and conscious memory, I simply stood still and took the pain.

Soon enough, the pain ebbed away and I was once again able to function. I had a split second of sight, where I observed another one of the small orbs launched towards me, and then I was bathed in a white light.

And then, I knew nothing once again. Darkness was around me; different darkness, however, than before. Before, it was a darkness of my own creation; when my mind was unable to produce anything else. Now, it was a canvas of darkness, where I knew I could project things onto. Unfortunately, I trusted neither my mind nor my memories to paint this eternal canvas. So I waited, surrounded by the blankness of my own mind.

What may have been a year, or a moment later, I found myself once again in existence. Before me again, was the yellow creature and the human. The human was saying something; I took no notice, instead opting to armor my mind against the incoming psychic assault I knew was coming.

"_What are you?"_

I gave a blink, both mental and physical. This time, the strike hadn't been with intention to hurt, but to communicate. With a similar psychic strike, I communicated back, completely honest. Looking back, it was perhaps, the one truth I held at the time; a revelation that filled me with strange and unknown emotions.

"_I do not know"_

The yellow being gazed back, her violet eyes not leaving mine. They seemed to stare not into, but through them, and even though I felt no particular psychic energy from her, I had the uneasy sensation she was learning more about me that I was revealing myself.

Then, she blinked and the spell was broken. She nodded slowly to herself, muttering something quiet and beyond my hearing under her breath.

"_Do you have a name?"_

I intended to answer back immediately, saying that I knew not what a name even was, when suddenly there was a mental click in my mind. A small piece of information had somehow jarred loose, and I examined it thoroughly and with interest, before finally responding to the telepathic entity;

"_Chulu"_.


	2. Of Narcissus Pt1

**Act 1 – Prologue**

**Chapter 2 **

**-**

**---**

**-**

Narc walked through the lush sea of green around him, literally burning with anger.

The Quilava's quills of fire flared out excitedly, as they covered his entire back in a roaring bonfire that for most organisms would be an unbearable heat. For Narc, it wasn't an even uncomfortable temperature.

_'Throw me will you? Pft, I don't need any of you. YOU needed ME. Try to get along without me around to settle arguments or get food or … or… or do whatever it was I did there. Bastards.'_

He thought to himself, mumbling occasionally, the internal rant doing absolutely nothing to sate his searing fury. Right now, there would be nothing to distract the fire type from the unfairness of the situation, nothing at all. This was the final injustice, the final straw, now was the time he did something about it. Well, he would. If he knew what to do. And it didn't involve going on some insane quest to the other side of the entire continent; he had heard stories about that once.

He paused, for a moment having forgotten why he was angry and where he was going. His anger was rekindled a moment later, having remembered once again, although he found himself still left in the dark about the second.

'_So I didn't produce an heir, so what? For all they know, one of those brats could be mine and they don't even know it… Yah, that's it. It's their fault completely; they just haven't been observant enough. Bastards.'._

He began his trek once again, his mind once again focused upon what had happened nearly three nights ago even though he knew perfectly well there was no way to reverse it, instead of food or where he would sleep. Of course, he would usually be able to find both –usually by distracting someone who already had both, with the ball of fire in their face- and he was technically 'prioritizing' it, it was doubtful he'd actually get to it by sundown at the earliest.

And then, as he passed what had to be the thousandth small grassy hill that day, he abruptly stopped, transfixed by the scene in front of him, so radically different from what he had been seeing for the past seventy-two hours- a small gathering of unnatural looking shelters of varying bright colors, dabbled at the foot of a massive cliff face that stretched far into the distance. He could many humans going about their business, traveling from one shelter to another on strange artificial pathways he was sure had to have been made by the humans themselves. He had never seen so many permanent human shelters before, only tiny farming towns scattered about the plains, nor as many of them in one place at a time. During his life in the clan; a largish band of the Cyndaquil line, and from what he heard, the last large wild group of them; human presence had never been a good thing. So many of them was slightly intimidating. And yet…

Skilled green eyes scanned the crouds of mainly humans –although scattered Pokemon, which he noted with enthusiasm- looking for something in particular. Finally locking on something he liked, he adjusted the temperature of his quills until they could at last be considered 'orderly', then licked a paw and adjusted some of his fur and combed out any dirt he found locked into it. Then, strutting confidently, he made his way into the civilization.

Moments later, he found himself talking to a particularly cute looking Eevee female laying on a rock, obviously waiting for someone, with nicely groomed fur and a small blue ribbon around her neck. She regarded him reservedly, with little more than a flick of the eyes to indicate she knew he was there. Narc was undisturbed, even giving a small bow of his head before he spoke.

"Excuse me miss, I'm new to this place and just happened to see you here. I'm sure a pretty thing like you wouldn't mind showing me around, eh?"

The brown mammal rolled her eyes visibly, turning them towards the blue-and-tan furred one infront of her.

"Listen, I don't care who you are, but just know two things. One, I'm not interested, and two, I don't have the time to go and show random Pokemon around town."

Narc was unaffected, and if anything a gleam appeared in his eyes, as he responded in an almost casual tone.

"Of course, I should've realized. Well in that case, We'll just have to put that off till later."

"Much later."

"Say, tonight?"

"How about, no?"

Narc flashed a toothy grin. "Just trying to get a feel for the town, love. If you don't want to see any more of me after that then fine, But do a stranger a favor? It isn't often one can find someone as cute as you to show them around a new place, so I like to snap whenever I get the chance."

The female sighed and shook her head, but was smiling.

"Fine, you win. Meet me here at about sundown, I'll show you around a little."

Outwardly, Narc gave a small earnest grin as he thanked the fem, before turning around and scampering through the crowd of human feet (that he was already getting used to) back up the lush hill he had came down earlier. Inwardly, he was smiling so widely that people may have been worried his face would crack. Then, once again surveying the crowd with a hawk-like eye, he spied a female Poochyena walking down one of the streets.

"Excuse me miss, I'm new to this place and just happened to see you here. I'm sure a pretty thing like you wouldn't mind showing me around, eh?"

---

Three weeks later, Narc was once again on the road, now possessing a significant number more of bruises than when he entered. Still, now he felt refreshed and ready to face the rest of the world. The town was beginning to feel stagnant anyway. He needed more excitement, more movement, more adventure…

And, of course the fact that he had exhausted the supply of attractive female Pokemon that were willing to listen to him had something to do with it, of course.

He sniggered a little at the memories. Back in the old clan, the variety of females to choose from was disturbingly shallow. If there was anything good about his situation, he now head a much deeper pool of fems to choose from. True, these ones were significantly more hard nosed than he was used to… but he could adapt.

The edges of his mouth twitched outward for a moment. His siblings would be so jealous, if they only knew. They had only seen Eevee rarely before, in a completely different clan that passed near them every couple of years or so, from what he'd heard. They usually wanted nothing to do with the Quilava clan, despite the obvious physical attraction felt by the more lustful tribe. He'd even heard the Espeon leader of said clan had threatened Tritus, the leader of his former clan, several times about what would happen if she had to deal with more overzealous members of the tribe any more.

A rather selfish group of individuals, was the common conscientious about them as he had heard from the others, and he believed it. Keeping their gene pools separate was rather backwards, harmful to both clans when it could be a great chance for greater numbers of young to be produced. And, as he had learned over and over before, population was power. The more young could possibly be created, the better. Their clan lives were dictated around that sing principle; procreate as much as humanly possible to increase numbers. Kits weren't even raised by their biological parents, who were undoubtedly still young enough to breed further. Instead, all kits were educated and brought up by the group of elders, those too old to create offspring any more, although they undoubtedly had numerous amounts of children in the past. After all, in the clan, young were so important, that your status within it was determined by the amount of kits you had sired. Fertility was valued as the ultimate gift, and seen as Arceus' way of telling who was worth more or less.

And then, there was him. Three years passed the age of maturity, and not a single heir.

Narc scowled a bit. He had been questioned several times by the elders why he had no offspring, and for none of them could he think of a satisfactory answer. Eventually, the Elders decided to publicly declare him sterile and unfit to sire young, (which, of course, was seen as blight from Arceus) and had him cast away from his home from birth. And so he wandered, without direction, for many days.

Narc's ears perked up as a familiar sound reached them. It was something he hadn't had for a couple days now, and though he needed less of it than the average Pokemon would, it would definitely quench his growing thirst.

'_Water!' _He thought victoriously, as he rushed towards the stream as fast as his four legs would take him. Sure enough, a broad lake soon came into view, clean water lightly rippling across its steep banks. The water was amazingly clear; it acted like a tinted mirror, reflecting the scenic clouds above on its shimmering azure surface. It was perhaps too perfect; Narc had heard of humans doing strange things like creating balanced lakes before, and at the moment he didn't care.

He took a few hasty licks of the water, sighing in relief at the cool sweetness running down his throat. It was as refreshing as it looked, and completely unpolluted. He dipped his entire muzzle in, trying to drink as much as he could. He wasn't sure when he'd get another chance like that.

Then he spied a green figure also drinking from the human-made lake (which, as he could plainly see now, wasn't nearly as large as a true lake), a sleek, clearly feminine canine emerald form with yellow highlights like electric currents. Fur came down from the head in almost a streaming fashion, probably for aerodynamic purposes.

Narc reasoned he wasn't sure when he'd get another chance like this either.

"Mind if I join you?"

he said to the still-drinking figure. The Electrike turned her head towards the Quilava, who gave her a slightly nervous smile.

"Alright" she said, sitting down beside the male.

"Name's Illa."

Narc gave another small smile, taking another lick of water. "Narcissus, but you can just call me Narc."

Illa nodded, shaking a bit of water out of her paws. Narc found himself involuntarily examining her curves, hypnotized by her shape, from the muzzle, down to the well developed sternum, legs and…

He shook his head, reminding himself that apparently the fems here didn't like him to be too forward. Weird, but he supposed he might as well play along…

"So was there something in particular you wanted?" she said, fixing a bit of fur near her eye with a paw; an overall cute and rather flirtatious gesture, Narc found.

"Uhh…" Narc stuttered, having finally caught a good look at her eyes, a rather icy blue color accented by the green fur, the result being strangely hypnotic. He felt his mind answering on its own, but luckily took control once more in time.

"Yeah, is there another human town nearby?" It was a decent enough question. Perhaps a bit too subtle, but he learned quickly subtlety was an asset here. Once again, another thing that baffled him; why waste time beating around the bush? Still, once again he had to play by their rules…

"Of course" The Electrike said casually, licking a paw. Okay, she was definitely flirting now… That was good. Heh, he was learning already…

"Mauville's just a little east of here" She continued. "My trainer lives there. He left to go somewhere else for a while though, so he pretty much let me do whatever I want until he gets back. I could bring you there, if you want…" She said, looking at me once again with those hypnotic blue eyes. Of course, that was what I hoped her answer would be. But there was something that had been bugging me…

"What's a trainer?" He asked abruptly. Narc's ignorance must have shown, as Illa laughed. Not a chuckle. Not a giggle. Come to think of it, it wasn't even a normal laugh. She fell onto her back, paws clutching her stomach and legs waving into the air, like she was having a convulsion. Good news, was that he now had an excuse to look her over without arousing suspicion. Bad news is –well, he was being laughed at.

"What's so funny?" he asked after about a minute or so passed and she hadn't let up. He was beginning to think she was easily amused. Then he took another look at her, and realized he didn't care.

"S-Sorry" she said, finally getting up and –predictably- raising her paw to her eye again (although he felt this time it was more to brush a tear out of her eye that anything).

"I haven't met anyone who didn't know what a trainer was. I mean, even the Wild Pokemon around these parts know everything about trainers… I suppose I have a lot to tell you then. Come on, I'll explain along the way."

Narc sighed internally. He had a feeling this was going to reveal information to me that I'd need in times to come…which, unfortunately meant he probably wouldn't get her for a while. Oh well.

---

Eventually, they did did make it to Mauville, which to say was a shock to Narc's system is an understatement. Until then, the largest amount of humans he had seen was the town I had passed weeks ago; compared to this, that was a barren wasteland. There was a literal ocean of humans, washing around the entire ground of the city. He was intimidated about entering; not only was Narc worried about being trampled by a stampede several times larger than any he had seen before, but the buildings here were so large he had mistaken some for oddly shaped mountains.

And of course, he was equally stunned when Illa just ran in through a small hole in a fence surrounding the area without a second thought. Still, that didn't stop him from following. He had learned about trainers along the way, how they captured Pokemon and trained them to fight other trainer Pokemon, and to win pieces of metal called 'Badges' from stronger trainers known as 'Gym leaders'. It sounded quite insane in all respects to him, but he supposed at this point he really didn't have a right to criticize.

Apparently Illa was the Pokemon of the Gym Leader of Mauville. This, of course, had invoked little more than the tiniest nod from him. He was still coming to terms with humans wearing cloths, let alone trapping Pokemon in small metal balls and forcing them to battle eachother for tiny bits of metal. It sounded damn fun –fighting always was- if still the most illogical thing he had ever heard.

Still, he followed behind, figuring if she could enter the behemoth of a living ground without harm, so could he.

And of course, upon entry, he encountered his first obstacle.

Illa did not wait up for him.

Looking at the dark, dirty pathways between the mountain-building-things, he had the strangest thought that perhaps this wasn't the best place to be. Still, he had been in worse places. Like water. Water was worse. Yah, just keep thinking that.

With a brief shrug, Narc started down a path the Electrike may have taken. He would probably find her eventually. How big could this place possibly be?

Big, apparently.

After roughly three hours of walking in octagons (Narc firmly refused to admit he was walking in _circles_), the Quilava eventually decided that he wasn't going to be finding that Illia chick unless she came to him, so he decided to stop looking for her and start looking for food and shelter (admittedly, the two didn't really differ in initiation). In the other town, he had managed to take berries from big wooden bins when the Humans who stood near them for the majority of the day weren't near, and take up residence near a particularly large tree. Here, there didn't like there was ever going to be a human-free period and he hadn't seen any trees in here since entering the city.

He sighed, and turned around.

Right into a fanged muzzle right behind him.

Backpedaling quickly, Narc saw that he was looking at a particularly large canine-type creature, distinctly male, with completely black fur. Oh, and what appeared to be an extra set of bones over the skin, making him look like some sort of vengeful spirit.

The look on its face described its obvious intent.

Narc smirked slightly, moving into a battle stance his previous fear all but forgotten. Now he thought just one thing; It was time to fight.

The Canine struck first, dashing forward recklessly and snapping with his massive jaws. Narc dodged easily, with a great amount of fluidity to the side, leaping off a close wall onto a ledge in the opposite wall. The black mongrel snarled at him from lower, unable to reach the point he had leaped to. Narc chuckled a little in victory, that promptly died as he saw a red light growing in the back of the dog's throat.

Only managing to jump clear of the massive blast of fire that preceded, Narc tumbled to the ground in a heap, before quickly straightening himself and turning to face his foe once again.

The beast gave a cry of battle, leaping towards the Quilava again. Prepared now, Narc now once again leap to the side This time jumping to the wall, rebounding and tacking the canine on the side, before biting into the soft flesh between the "ribs" on its side, causing it to cry out in pain and anger, as its bloodshot eyes once again locked on the offending Quilava. It turned around with flexibility Narc had previously thought impossible, plucking him from its side (tearing out a a chunk of flesh with him), and tossing him harshly at the wall.

Narc cried out in pain as his small body was forced upon the hard concrete wall. As he fell to the bottom, heaped up slightly, his flames burned even brighter. He turned to face his opponent once again, a thought now firmly plastered on his face- and more readably, his eyes. It said, _no more fooling around_.

The Canine blinked. It's mind, slow as it was, found itself conflicting with the information that reached it. The insolent fire type hit the wall with a resounding smack. Good. It fell to the ground in pain, blood swelling from the points where his teeth punctured the skin. Good. Two more Quilava suddenly appeared to the left and right of the original one. Not good.

The wolf yelped as all three enemies instantly leaped up in perfect synchrony, before promptly combusting into three perfect ball of fire. The Houndoom (for. That was what it defined itself as) knew fire. Fire was its friend. Fire helped it destroy what it needed to, it caused things to not attack him. He liked fire.

He didn't like three massive fireballs spinning towards him, however, and was promptly surprised when he felt the burning sensation of fire scald him, starting from the head all the way to his back. One of the orbs of flame had struck him; revealing the Quilava hidden within; firmly upon the head, with force that even his overlaying skull could not absorb. He felt the creature run along his back, and then firmly, with a claw full of flame, strike down between two ribs.

The Houndoom yelped in pain, as his flame-retardant skin was breached into the soft, vulnerable flesh within. Narc held on, until the Canine bucked and smashed him into the wall of the alley, shaking him off once again. The hound began to lick its sore wound –it had never been hurt by fire before, and this first time was a traumatic experience. It fully expected the small creature to run and leave, and was already preparing how he would act when he returned to his master when he came empty-pawed.

What he wasn't expected was for the small creature to rush him, so fast he was unable to see his passage, striking him twice rapidly in each eye, then a third time on the nose for good measure. Then, without warning, it seemed like the beast disappeared once more, before instantly appearing him, striking him rapidly twice at his back leg tendons, causing him to yelp once more in surprise as he collapsed. The Quilava still wasn't done, however, as it dashed forward in front of him, and with a small grin, and suddenly there were three of them again. They all rushed at him again, this time at a more reasonable speed. He caught one in his jaws, and bit down with fatal force, only to discover to his intense bewilderment there was nothing there.

Meanwhile, the other two Quilava quickly struck with sharp claws, piercing the skin once more and injecting intense heat once more.

At this point, it was more than the Houndoom could take. Once again, it shook off Narc, the other "him" having inexplicably disappeared, then with a small whine turning away and running as much as it could away from the smaller mammal.

Narc grinned once more, triumphantly, calling after the strange creature

"And there'll be more if you ever come back!" before turning around with a sense of accomplishment. Perhaps he would find that girl –what was her name?- but at this point he didn't care. He had been challenged, and he had won. Anything this strange place could throw at him was meaningless; he could handle it.

Right before he ran into a red and white sphere, which promptly sucked him within it. Confused and not knowing what to do, the orb struggled a couple times, before finally coming to a dead stop.

---

The next thing Narc knew, he was in a dusty cage, surrounded by three bare cement walls and one wall of strong metal bars, thin and placed very close together. Narc's first response was, of course 'Where the hell am I?' quickly followed by an equally important 'Where's the food?'.

"New blood" said a husky voice Narc noticed from the corner of his cage; which was actually quite large; with what he noticed was almost a defeated quality to it.

"So, who got you"? the voice asked, coming from what Narc Identified as a dark, dusty pile of fur stacked untidily and unevenly. He wasn't even sure where the thing's head was, let alone what species it was, although it was safe to say it was something with fur and not of the Cyndaquil line.

"Got…me?" He asked, quite stupidly as his mind still hadn't adjusted to the new surroundings.

"Got me… how?"

The dusty pile of fur stood up (which, pretty much denoted it wasn't a pile of fur and a living being instead), shook its head sadly, then called out to the other ones;

"No good. Look's like this one's a little slow. No help here."

Narc still didn't know exactly where he was, or why, but he knew when something was insulting him, and it didn't look female. So, of course, he responded in a way containing eloquence that properly personified him.

Fifteen minutes later, when the dusty being had stopped smoldering and shouting death threats. Narc found it proper to finally introduce himself

"My name is Narc, I'm not stupid, and I'll kick anyone's ass who say's otherwise. Any questions?"

Probably a bit more forward and commanding than he would usually be, however none who understood his situation could really blame him. One moment, he was in the most amazing, unbelievable place he had ever beheld, the next he was facing a demonic mongrel and being shoved in old cages with a dusty smart-mouthed whatever-it-was.

Come and think of it…

AS he looked around, he identified more piles of fur, some as dusty and unkempt as the one he had just set alight, others with their species still identifiable without standing up. He now knew why the cage was such a large size; it was made to accommodate at least seven Pokemon at the same time, as far as he could tell, although he had the sneaking suspicion this one wasn't satisfactorily filled yet.

"Well" Said the first heap, whom Narc could now tell with a slight amount of effort, was actually an Eevee of an age comparable to his own. Still, he could tell by his state of being that he had been here for a long time; perhaps the longest of all of them in the cage.

Now all he needed to know was why they were in here in the first place.

"Perhaps you aren't so slow. Although you'll quickly learn that violence isn't the best way to handle most things in here" Continued the Eevee. Narc grunted in response, he wasn't about to get bossed around by something that looked like it hadn't seen the sun in years.

"Exactly why are we here?" Narc asked in a tone suggesting authority, trying to convey the message that he wasn't about to be bossed around here. Some of the others snickered darkly. Others didn't do anything. He felt a lump in his throat at their lack of movement. Were they dead?

No, no, he realized with some relief, he could see their chests still moving. So they weren't dead. At least not yet.

The Eevee coughed slightly, in what Narc supposed was intended to be a slight chuckle.

"We're all prisoners of Team Rocket. Does that answer your question?"

Upon examining Narc's reaction that it certainly didn't, he elaborated.

"We're all prisoners of the criminal organization of Team Rocket. We're supposed to stay here all day in the dust and filth, before getting a short break to be whipped, branded and tortured in other ways until we give in and decide to willingly help them capture more of us and repeat the cycle all over again until they've obtained enough of us to take over the world and make everyone do exactly like we're being forced to do. Does THAT answer your question?"

Narc blinked.

"I supposed so…" he said tentatively, before walking over to examine the bars.

The Eevee said something afterwards, but he wasn't interesting. So these 'Rocket' people were trying to keep him locked up eh? All he really needed to know was that.

After a while of examining the gate and deducing that there really wasn't any way to get out, Narc shrugged and sat down, stretching out and yawning like a feline before curling up into a comfortable sleeping position. He hoped they'd get food in the morning, but the truth of the matter was that he was too tired to do anything. He had spent all of last night following an Electrike chick that apparently could not run out of energy, the morning looking around for her, and the midday fighting some sort of skeleton-hound thing before getting mysteriously transported to here…wherever 'here' was. He supposed he had earned a rest. At least for now. After all, he'd still be able to get out in the morning.


	3. Of Narcissus Pt2

**Act 1 – Prologue**

**Chapter 3 **

**-**

**---**

**-**

Narc awoke to a painful screeching sound, emanating from near he was.

He could tell that it was going to be a bad day.

Moments before he was thrown against a wall, collapsing to the ground in shock as he saw his attackers; a pair of humans, dressed completely in black with a gaudy looking red R on the chest. Although he had no idea what the letter stood for (Really, he wasn't even completely sure what the letter was), being unfamiliar with human writing, he understood who they were. And maybe why they just kicked him. Stupid move.

Narc's fur bristled threateningly, as he quickly started thinking the best way to attack the interlopers and exit the door (that he now noticed was opened, most likely to let the two into the cage). He barely took register of the other residents of the cage until he finally leapt at one of the two thugs, fangs bared, noticing that they were huddled into a corner, obviously trying to make themselves less noticeable.

The next thing he registered was a sharp shock to his system, as he was firmly hit with a metal stick held by the other Rocket. His motor functions immediately seized up, and he dropped to the floor, twitching slightly.

Definitely not a good day.

One of the two laughed at him, before giving him a hard nudge with his boot into the wall once more. He looked to his partner for a second, who gave a nod and small chuckle. Then, even as Narc struggled unsuccessfully against his new found paralysis, he felt a long tube of some sort of metal pressed over his face, and a harness attached to his back that linked to the tube, locking it into place. Finally, a wicked-looking metal collar was placed around his neck, sounding with a digital click as it was brought into place.

At this point, Narc once again tried to kick at the two, only to find the harness all but restricted his movement as the paralysis did.

The Rockets apparently didn't get the memo, as they ushered him out of the cage with a sound kick.

Narc immediately decided that once he was free from this restraint, those two would be the first to burn.

The two darkly-clad figures guided him with a long, stiff metal rod, attached to a hook on the harness. In truth, they were more dragging him than guiding; it was nearly impossible to walk properly with the bonds, let alone at the pace the two had decided was necessary. Still, Narc didn't find that particularly troublesome, compared to his more recent discoveries. He had suspected there were more cages, however only now did he realize exactly how many. His had been near the end of a particularly large row, and by the end of being dragged down it, he had seen at least sixty different species of Pokemon, the majority covered in dust and filth the others in his cage had been.

Of course, the real shame was that there was usually too much dust (and his head incapable of moving to a good angle) to discern the gender of a particular Pokemon, let alone any details he usually concerned himself with.

Still, he had to wonder exactly how long some of them had been here. And once again, wherever "here" was; the others hadn't been particularly specific. Which, come to mention it…

Narc turned his head slightly (difficult, due to the strange metal cylinder around his muzzle) and out of the corner of his eye spotted a third man in black, guiding another Pokemon in similar attire to what he had on himself. He immediately recognized it as the Eevee, and thought he saw a small flash of recognition before he was forced to look ahead once again.

Soon enough, they were brought to their destination; a large room, mostly empty with large stone walls all around. He was once again, shoved inward by a stiff boot and skidded across the floor for a few moments, unable to stand upwards without aid due to the restricting contraption still attached to him. He saw the third rocket do a similar thing with his cargo; which was, indeed, the Eevee from before, before the door they had been forced in was closed, and sealed with a loud click.

Narc made a loud growling sound, something he hadn't done in a long while due to it being both pointless and childish, but, as he reasoned, there wasn't much else he could do. Just as he was starting to wonder what was going to happen now, that all the Rockets left, he suddenly felt himself pulled upwards by the back of his neck, like a kit.

"Fresh meat" he heard a deep, raspy voice hiss in his ear, before he was once again thrown against the wall.

He was really starting to get tired of that.

A moment later, he felt human fingers at the latches to the harness, and surprisingly, felt the part of it that wrapped his legs removed. He stood up slowly, still hindered by the metal grate over his face and weight of the upper harness, but now able to move on his own legs. He looked around, and saw the one who must of undone it –a younger looking rocket, male, with sandy hair- working at doing the same with the Eevee's harness next to him. He also saw, a fair distance into the room, a second rocket wearing a ridiculous outfit of purple, red and black, holding a whip in his left hand.

Narc wasn't sure weather to laugh, or to attack.

He chose the latter.

He dashed towards the obnoxiously dressed man, who gave a loud, exaggerated laugh before expertly snapping his whip at him. Narc, who was expecting that, leaped upwards to pass the weapon…

…Only to find the harness made his weight too awkward to do so. The whip lashed against his newly-freed legs, tripping him up and once again, shocking him like the metal batons of the previous rockets.

The Eevee behind him sighed and shook his head sadly as Narc convulsed on the floor, recovering quicker than last time. The owner of the whip laughed once again, obnoxiously.

"I wouldn't be trying that again, my pretty. Next time I won't be so merciful and let you get off with just one easy lash." Still chuckling to himself, the man threw another one of the strange red and white orbs to the ground, where it exploded in a squall of light. Seconds later, the light dimmed to reveal a humanoid looking creature, covered in short, coarse tawny fur and what looked like brown parts of a shell. It had a massive moustache, and carried (much to Narc's amusement) two silver spoons like weapons.

"Meet Alakazam" The man said, a massive grin spread across his face. "His job is simply, like mine, to make your life a living hell. Unless, of course, you wanted to skip all this and just submit to us…"

At this point, Narc wasn't even listening, rather than growling at both of them. The 'Alakazam' didn't look too tough… He could take it. He was sure he could. As long as he stood out of range of that whip.

Quickly taking his surroundings, Narc ran again, this time in a wide circle, coming closer to the strange Pokemon. Then, when he was in range, he leapt, once again preparing for a quick Aerial Ace…

And then, simultaneously, two things happen.

Firstly, he heard a strange click come from the collar placed around his neck, and his body suddenly felt numb. Next, he stopped in mid air.

Just stopped. He didn't move forward, nor did he fall. He just floated in place.

And then, he was slammed (once again) into the wall, with much more force than any of the Rockets yet.

Today definitely wasn't a good day.

The Eevee stared at him with an 'I told you so' look in his eyes. Still, anyone could tell it was an empty victory. Narc quickly and suddenly realized why the Pokemon in the cages looked so unkempt; they simply gave up. It was as simple as that.

"Sean". The Man with the whip said again.

"Yes?" responded the youth who had previously released us; it looked like he was purposely trying to look inconspicuous, even to the larger rocket.

"Present your Pokemon. You were assigned it for a reason."

"Y-yes, sir." He said, slightly nervous as he dropped his own colored sphere. There was another flash of light, and a being similar to the Alakazam appeared; however, while the Alakazam looked bare of decoration, this one had several markings; a red star on the forehead, and three vertical red lines on the abdomen. It was shorter too, and devoid of a moustache. Narc also instantly recognized it as a female, unlike the Alakazam. Strangely enough, it regarded him with a curious, and rather un-hostile expression, although he had the unpleasant thought he was being examined as a test subject would be.

"Now…" the Man said, once more "Let's see your best shot. I dare you."

Well, he dared him. Which meant he expected Narc to do it.

Narc rarely disappointed.

Narc dashed off again, as the eevee next to him rolled his eyes. He kept his eyes on the two psychics; if they could keep doing that, there was no way he could win. Come and think of it, he had very little hope that he would be able to do anything while he still had the strange collar. But, he was never one to not attempt it before ruling it out.

He ran quickly towards the man, who simply chuckled at his assault, gesturing to the large psychic next to him. Alakazam nodded, and his eyes began to glow blue…

But they never got the chance to complete, as the next second his target disappeared before his very eyes. The psychic blinked his eyes in confusion- then gasped as he felt something crush into him from behind.

The Quilava wasn't finished. As quick as before, he disappeared, smashing into the tawny being from the front, causing him to gasp from the double assault. The patch of fur near wherever he had struck smoldered satisfyingly, from his intense flames.

And them, once again, he felt completely numb. He was unable to move any limb; and even if he could, he wouldn't be able to feel it anyway. He saw the elder human approach him once more, an angry scowl dominating all his none-too-impressive features.

Suddenly, he felt the numbness leave his body. He turned to attack the bigot, but found that he couldn't; the Alakazam, having just gotten back to his feet, regarded Narc with a dark, and perhaps slightly sadistic gaze.

The man who stood before him had his clear. There was no mistaking the gleam in the man's eyes, as he tenderly stroked the whip in his hand.

"Well". He said finally, uncoiling the weapon. "Looks like we have a fighter."

- - -

Five weeks later, Narc found himself in the same cage that he started in, now considerably more irritable and bruised. Near him lay the Eevee he had met before; he had since then learned the small creatures name was Ven, he had been in there for almost five months, and he was the nearest thing to a leader the rest of them had. Although, he had admitted, the position meant little as there was little to do but sit around, and the only reason he had gotten it was because he still had the will to stand up.

To put it simply, Narc was bored. And angry. And hungry. Generally, Narc had experienced only one of the trio, almost never all four at once. But these Rocket types had tripped the line; the bastards kept them in the cages all day, except the odd time he got to run around with the weird guy with the whip. Narc saw that as the highlight of his day, aside of course, from the feedings (If they could be called such; the hue of the food they were served seemed to match that of the dust that seemingly got everywhere).

Sure, he got thrown around and whipped practically every session. The tamer had some strange notion that the practice was intended to weaken Narc's resolve and help them in –whatever it was- that they did. Obviously, Narc threw the offer in their faces each time. The other Pokemon in the cage were surprised, and perhaps slightly inspired at the newcomer's resilience.

Truthfully, to Narc, the beatings reminded him slightly of the training at home, with a lower fatality rate. When he had told the others so, they has mostly chuckled at what they thought, at the time, was a small joke.

Then he went on to explain that the "training" back home ranged from escaping avalanches down the nearby mountain, provoking Rhyhorn into attacking them, Jumping across entire rivers and, in some cases, attempting to seduce one of the rather violent Eevee tribe that passed every so often.

In retrospect, he probably supposed this was the reason why they needed so many young.

The other prisoners in the cage seemed to enjoy Narc's presence, most likely because of him providing a well needed break in the monotony. Some of them had even began fighting back, instead of just laying pathetically on the floor when brought out for "training" as the Rockets called it.

Eventually, even they had started talking, about themselves and what they did before they were captured. All in all, they were usually pretty uninteresting, especially to Narc (who made his opinion on the matter rather obvious by yawning and taking a short nap whenever he felt uninterested). They didn't mind even that; it made them feel, if only for a split second, they weren't in a hopeless dungeon, most likely in the middle of nowhere.

Ven took to this with enthusiasm. His story hadn't been much better than any of the others; He had lived as one of the pets of a wealthy man in a city called Rustboro, which of course Narc understood little of; But he saw all this as a great was to increase morale. So, he always encouraged it the best way he could –that was, of course, matching Narc word for word with constant bickering and mock fights. The fire type had begun to grow on him –although, he rather didn't understand him at times.

Eventually, it was once again Narc's time to "train". Once again, the cage was opened, and he was muzzled and bound. However, he noticed, with some interest, that this time there was only one Rocket. Not only that, but it was the younger one he had always seen the Tamer with; as long as Narc had been there, he had always been in the room prior to the session, never going to get one himself. Secondly, he felt, rather than noticed, the bounds had been placed on rather loosely. He was still unable to escape from it, in any way, but he could at least keep his balance while he was locked.

Soon enough, he once again made it to the bare chamber, where the Alakazam and Tamer were. Neither one looked like they had it easy lately; the Tamer looked disgruntled and impatient, and several bruises and bite marks showed on his skin. He Alakazam bore a similar expression, and had a large chunk of fur on his left side charred off completely; Narc made a mental note to thank whoever did that for doing it in his favorite method.

Narc was released from his bonds, and startlingly, it was not only the leg binds that were removed, but the entire set, including the muzzle and ring. The Quilava made a violent bite at the young Rocket as he removed the muzzle, and fully intended to follow up by charging at the Alakazam, intending to rip off that obnoxious moustache. Immediately afterwards, however, he felt a psychic energy hold him in place. He stared daggers at the Alakazam… until he realized it wasn't the tawny, horned biped that was holding him in place.

'_Just play along' _He heard a calm voice tell him, resonating in his mind rather than ears.

"So" said the Tamer, looking at him with obvious resentment. "I hear you've finally saw reason and decided to join us…"

Narc felt the telepathic grip fall from him, and he felt he knew what he should do next; do something to confirm that, perhaps a small bow or something similar. He grunted for a moment, realizing the idea had been planted in his head, before directing his attention to the Tamer and Pokemon in front of him. He knew it was probably sensible to play along.

"Like hell I will!" Narc called, launching a rather sizable fireball at the Alakazam. As he expected, the powerful psychic flinched at the sight of the flame, allowing Narc the chance to disappear once again, re-materializing behind the humanoid long enough to deliver a powerful blow to the back. The psychic not only crumpled against the unexpected blow, but fell to the floor also. Narc grinned at his good fortune –the Alakazam was apparently much more tired than it seemed- Before delivering a scorching stream of heat to the back of the Pokemon's massive cranium.

The Tamer was dumbfounded, looking between Narc, the youth, and the Kadabra Narc had just noticed in the corner. He made an angry gesture with a metal orb on his belt, which sent out a beam of crimson light, absorbing the felled psychic into it.

"You _idiot" _He called out at the youth.

"You were supposed to leave the ring on! You are a complete imbecile; I fail to see how you could possibly …"

The man trailed off as it became apparent the younger Rocket wasn't about to help him, probably assumed when he saw the four metal sphere, his whip, and a strange metal object, levitate out of distance. The youth looked at his 'master', a rather victorious look in his eyes, as he pocketed all the items as they floated towards him.

'_We told you to play along'_

Narc heard the strange voice once again, this time identifying it as coming from the Kadabra. He responded vocally, hissing slightly.

"I –Did-. You removed everything stopping me from attacking, so I attacked."

The Kadabra shook her head slightly, before looking up to the youth once again. The boy smiled slightly, before running a hand through his long sandy locks.

Narc frowned. He already didn't like this guy, although he admitted it was better than earlier.

"Well, it was nice knowing you…" The younger one –although Narc supposed now, he couldn't classify as a Rocket anymore- said with a sarcastically enthusiastic expression on his face, giving a little wave.

"Why you…" The man said, running at the smaller human with a feral anger in his eyes- which promptly blanked out, his pupils dilating, before he crumpled to the floor. The Kadabra nodded at the larger form, before turning away to look at her trainer. The boy looked at the psychic for a brief moment, before directing his attention at Narc.

"It wasn't exactly what we were aiming for, but it'll due. Look Quilava, the police will be here in a few minutes, however the force'll be smaller than normal due to the remote area. Basically, we need you cause mayhem. Tiris, here is able to open the cages, But we've observed you as the best one to round up all the Pokemon into battle. Can you do it?"

The human blinked, noticing that the Quilava was gone before he ended his speech.

"Tiris?"

'_Yes, Sean?' _

"…When did the Quilava leave""

"_About when you got to 'smaller than normal."_

"…ah."

- - -

Narc wove his way through the feet of the Rockets, burning the majority of them as they went. Pitiful, these humans were… completely off balance, slower than some of the physically disabled Quilava, and the majority didn't even have Pokemon with them to make up for their complete idiocy. .

Even though Narc didn't hear the instructions, he got the gist of it pretty quickly, and was attempting to make his way back to the cage with Ven and the others. They were the most likely to help him, after all. Of course, part of him wondered how he would open the gate, but he rarely listened to that part anyway.

He didn't have to wait long. Soon enough, he heard a long blaring sound, as every single gate in the building opened up. Some of the Pokemon inside gave a few curious peek out, and some entered the fray all together. However, several just stayed in the cage like nothing had happened.

Eventually, Narc came across a swarm of Pokemon. He smirked slightly, moved into a battle stance, until…

"Narc!"

he fumbled slightly at the sound of his name, as an Eevee came into the fray. Narc quickly recognized him as Ven, although he now lacked the dust that had previously been so prominent. Funnily enough, his fur was still pale; a deep, albino white to be accurate, accented by his unnaturally blue eyes.

Narc noticed, with some interest, that the group he had mistaken for an enemy force was actually his former cage mates, looking as clean as the day they were captured.

"…How'd you clean off so fast?"

"Don't ask. Just, don't. Please."

Narc smirked a little. Ven returned the gesture, showing a couple small, sharp teeth. "So what do we do now, Narc?"

Narc's smile grew. "What do we do now?"

He turned around, looking towards the surprised Rocket group.

"We fight."

Today, WAS a good day.


	4. Of Tiris

**Act 1 – Prologue**

**Chapter 3 **

**-**

**---**

**-**

Dreams.

Gateways into a whole different dimension, where one's mind ruled all. Visited only briefly by those mortals, who each time wake up to embrace harsh reality.

Knowing that there will always be dreams.

And yet, among the brief, fleeting visitors, there was one who had lived there since she came into existence; prior to that, even, for many laws of physics were broken in favor of the beautiful chaos that ruled all of the land. There was only one rule; HIS rule, the great one who resided in every sleep, the whisper at the back of every thought of every creature and every dream. The king of sleep that, on the mortal plain, were two; for only in their truest states, embracing the dream themselves, could they assume their true shape.

And this great king watched with interest, one single being. A being that resided not in the mortal plain, but in theirs of sleep and dreams. They had nourished this being both since birth, and never at all; for time was not a binding in their lands. They nourished the being with knowledge, strength, power and awareness. They taught it of the waking realm, it's intricacies and failings, its victories and simplicities. And it learned, for it could do nothing else.

And then one day, the being that had only known the cool embrace of dreams, awoke.

- - -

She saw, for the first time of her existence. Still buried deep into the realm of dreams, she was brought out into self-consciousness; Not awake in the literal sense, but aware of her actions, capable of using her own mind for ends she desired. And for once she recognized the being near her, impossible to describe in simple words, who had been guiding her in her less conscious state.

**Look and learn**

She heard the being say.

And then the world as known to her shattered.

She saw herself in a grassy clearing, large mountains in the distance. The glade was a perfect picture of peace, with short lush glasses at a perfect size, crowned by shrubs and sparse yet thickly leaved trees. No rocks prodded from everywhere, save the nearby mountains, which seemed almost sculpted by the greatest of all rock architects. However, despite its perfection, only two beings inhabited the lands, as she saw; two small, four legged beings with vivid purple fur, whiskers and tails that curled at the end, One male, one female. The two were enwrapped in a loving embrace, tails entwined as they simultaneously enjoyed eachother and the lands that they had been blessed with.

And then, everything shattered. The mountains were dyed with blood as fire raced down the clearing, separating the two mammals. Fire consumed the fine shrubbery and trees, turning Eden into a flaming Hell. The grass blackened and died before their very feet; and, suddenly, with a sickening lurch, the glade snapped in two; dragging the two halves of continental rock away with them. The male gasped at this, calling out to his mate while trying to avoid the flames that rimmed every possible escape; and then, his facial expression turning from one of horror to determination, he leaped the gap, paws barely making the ledge, when he suddenly burst into flames, disintegrating quickly into nothing. The female's eyes filled with tears as she buckled down with grief… Just as, before her, the fires bent into a familiar mousey shape. The flames around them spat and contorted, changing into a strange shape… Four legs, yet longer than a rattata. With a great spikey mane of fire…

**The Lovers**

**- - -**

She was now in a city, covered by the veil of darkness; many crude houses, of stone and brick, all jumbled together in a mismatched order well enough to call the entirety a massive apartment complex. She could tell it was a poor place, but a happy one; they had not much, but what they did have, they treasured, for it was all they had ever known.

And then, under the sleek cloak of jet, a figure made its way into one of the houses. There was an agonizing scream, and she felt she knew that it was a time of mourning; someone dear, someone important had been taken before their time.

The sun arose quickly, moving like a massive pendulum swinging towards the roof of the heavens. Then, abruptly he stopped; she saw before her a throne of gold, studded with rose thorns. On it sat an unhappy man, holding a golden keychain with a single key, and beside him a beautiful women in a simple white gown. She caressed him tenderly, before he gave a shuddering sigh, walking towards an empty iron cage. As he approached, the iron bars turned to gold, and a hundred wailing prisoners appeared in it. They came in every size and every shape, from bawling babes to weakened old woman; and they were all pleading to the man, begging him to let them go free once more, apologizing again and again for whatever they had done. Only a single prisoner said nothing; a man whose identity was unknown.

The young man went forward, and fit his key into the door, locking it soundly into place. The prisoners wept and screamed an agonizing cry, before all dropping forward into an ungodly death; from wounds previously invisible; angry slashes across the back, deep wounds in the chest. Only one man seemed unharmed; the one in the heavy coat, his identity unknown. Then slowly, surely, he raised his hood… revealing the young man who had locked him in there. And suddenly, his expression turned to that of pure agony and surprise, as both men fell down, crumpled to the floor from a stab to the heart.

And from behind one of the men came the woman, dressed in a simple white gown, looking sadly at the ornate dagger she held in her hand; a long, black shaft with an oddly shaped yellow knife, cut into a zigzag lightning bolt pattern.

**Justice**

**- - -**

She was once again in another place entirely; a land of eternal mists, reaching farther than the eye could possibly see. The gray clouds of moisture blocked out vision from all sides, all angles, all dimensions. She wasn't even sure she was standing properly according to gravity. And yet, from the mists, she felt emanating consciousnesses… Each one, neither maleficent nor benign, but with a simple mechanical logic system. They observed from afar, always watching, waiting… They had little concept of time, and even less care for it. They were outcasts, misfits of not just their world, but any world, even this one. Where they must still hide, although everywhere was a hiding place…

And yet, among the bleak scene, there was one break in it. A small figure, meditating in the center; it had two slender legs, crossed in the meditative stance, equally slender arms, and was topped with lime green hair and two flat and circular red horns prodding from the head. Its two eyes were closed, tightly in concentration.

And then, they opened, revealing two glowing orbs.

The Kirlia got to her feet, and stared across the mists. The phantom creatures backed away as she gazed into the bleakness, which seemed to be lessening as she looked; replaced by a cold mountain scape. Soon, the entire scenery was in clear view; and all of the beings, having been so cold and unfeeling before, now radiated terror, and fled in absolute fear. The kirlia nodded, her job done, before crumpling to the floor, disintegrating into small blue motes of light. For the briefest moment, the motes formed a shape; long, sleek furred body, with a foxlike face and two tails…

And then, it was gone. From high on the mountaintop, water drained steadily from a top chasm into a smaller one bellow. And then, abruptly, it stopped.

**Temperance**

**- - -**

This time, she found herself on the wide sea, with nothing but gently rolling deep blue waters as far as the eye could see. It was night, draping everything in an indigo tint; the dark blue waters heaved and relaxed, as the gentle pull of life went on. And, far above, the heavens stretched before them, laying bear their miraculous contents; thousands upon thousands of stars in a rich tapestry of light and beauty. But before them all, was the massive hanging orb, steadily revolving around them; a beautiful and pure orb of light.

The waters beneath gave a might heave, before giving way to the strangest being possible to conception. Her vision of it was blurred, although she got the main gist; thousands upon thousands of raging tentacles, angry red orbs and eyes filled with nothing but bloodlust. And yet, even this great demon paused at the scene before it, eyes attracted to the pale ring, eternally hovering about them, just out of reach. It seemed almost polished, reflecting the gentle pull of the waters below them, giving them a view of what could and could not be…

And then, when she looked again, she saw she was indeed in the same place, the same tapestry of stars and the same hypnotic moon; but the monolith of chaos and destruction had been replaced by a small minute copy, a mere shadow of the former… Barely a foot in height, with two large red orbs in the head, and but only two tentacles bore below the main body. And yet, its eyes, free of the blood haze from before, were filled with the same mysticism, the same rapture, at the quicksilver orb displayed above, giving off its reflected, borrowed light…

**The Moon**

**- - -**

She found herself under the same sky, and gazing out at the same ocean… But now, she was perched upon a solid cliff-face, gazing outward. And above her, there was no moon; no orbital, centered disk. Only endless gates of stars, and the heavens stretched before her.

She spied two beings; both cloaked in illusions, their true shapes indiscernible and unrecognizable. Still, she felt from them the same love and admiration as she had previously felt, and knew of their dedication and love for another.

And them suddenly, one departed. He jumped from the cliff into the waters below, stopping only a foot from breaking the waters. Then, at an amazing speed, he ran across the ocean itself, as if it were nothing more than sand or dirt. And then, abruptly, he was swallowed up by the sea, consumed by the salty waves and dragged far below their waters.

She felt a staggering sense of loss, a powerful emotion of mourning; she knew someone truly important, someone she cared about, had died a death more final and more true than any other. She knew she had lost him, and she felt her mind almost torn apart from it; the pain of loss, the feeling that she would never meet him, never know him, was more than she could ever handle. The other being was in a similar state, preparing to jump of the cliff and join the other in a final rest; however, as she prepared to jump, both were distracted by something on the horizon…

A powerful, bright glimmering star, sending rays of light into their very hearts and souls. She left it illuminate more than physically, but relive the mental pain as well. Dreams… subtle dreams, taking away the pain in a sea of wistfulness. To forever forget her problems, to be eternally comforted, never have to think about them ever again…

And in the face the star. She saw one solid beam of light descend, illuminating a small puddle on the cliff itself. Both her and the other being approached it, slowly and surely, before peeking in on the reflection provided by the waters.

She saw naught two faces, but one. A single face, full of fear, anticipation, pain and curiosity. It was covered in short tawny fur, with a couple bands of brown. A red star decorated the center of the forehead, and the face dipped down into a form of muzzle. There were no ears, but simply holes that served that purpose. She studied it carefully, and completely, for she knew this was her, and she was it. She looked up to the star once again… No, not a dream. For it could not be the entrance to dreams… for she had already taken that escape.

And from there, she embraced awakening.

**The Star**

**- - -**

**-**

**- - -**

Arthur Reid had never been a lucky man.

He had never been, from his birth to even today; He had to suffer through the divorce of his parents, poverty, an extremely unlikely sequence of events, his wife leaving him, going bankrupt (again), and of course, signing up for what seemed to be a dream job, only to find out it was part of the notorious Team Rocket.

So he was pleasantly surprised to find that his only duties for the next month were taking care of T1 R1 –S, or, as she was affectionately called by the other staff, Tiris. T1 R1 S was one of the older projects in the rather new Rocket base; she was captured in a raid of a small town, after it being discovered she possessed an incredible amount of psychic energy for a simple Abra.

Complications arose, of course, when it was discovered said Abra was not only asleep as the rest of its species usually were, but was actually unaware of its surroundings. The poor Pokemon had been put through tortures considered to be inhuman by even the Rockets themselves; and yet, it showed no response. At all. Even when her specifics were monitored during one of these sessions, none of its vitals showed any sign of recognizing it was being beaten; it's heart rate was normal, brainwaves normal, there wasn't even a residual sign of damaged nerves. The Abra was considered an anomaly, but potentially useful, so it was locked in a cage and given minor rations of food and water, as well as a guard or two usually standing near it. All of the employees loved, what was now named, Tier 1 – Room 1 – "S", as it was quite easily the simplest assignment possible in the entire building. Every couple of days, all you had to do was pour some water down its throat, and shove some nutritional tablets down its esophagus, then you were usually left off to do whatever they want. The affectionately named Tiris assignment was considered more of a paid vacation than anything.

So, of course, it had to be on Alexander's watch that said Abra decided to wake up.

At that point, the rather plump rocket was enjoying a rather good coffee, when he saw the mysterious glowing light coming from the center of the cage room. When he walked forward to examine what the matter was, he promptly dropped the beverage, spilling the best drink the man would ever consume in his life time, upon the rather stainable carpet below him.

Before his eyes, Tiris was changing; The normally prone Abra was glowing with the mysterious, white glow of Evolution. The computers attuned to her brainwaves went mad, blinking and flashing, until they suddenly died. And, as quick as it began, in place of the Abra known as T1-R1-S, there was a female Kadabra, bear of any signature moustache or silverware, glancing around the room in curiosity.

Awake.

-

Days turned to weeks, and weeks to months. While Tiris' mysterious awakening did cause a stir, when it was discovered she had retained very little extra power from her evolution, it died down. Most grunts were slightly resentful of the event, which now removed the prospect of getting an easy assignment near impossible. Eventually, Tiris (For although she had been moved from the room, the name stuck), had been given to some promising young apprentice. Some people were wondering why a Pokemon that caused such a stir was simply being given away, but, in time, even that was forgotten.

And that suited Sean, and his new partner; Tiris, just fine.

- - -

I ran quite quickly down the hallways, amid the chaos caused –quite adeptly- by the Quilava we had encountered earlier. Despite his evident lack of subtlety and prominent impatience, the small creature did his job. None of the Rockets paid me any notice; too busy trying to close the cages I had just opened, unbeknown, of course, by them.

My job, of course, was not simply opening the cages, but also stimulating those within them to act. Very few of them had the will or strength left to leave their bindings, let alone to revolt; this, in most cases, was solved with a complicated, yet easy telepathic wave directed to stimulate their adrenalin and natural defensive mechanisms. Once the entrapped Pokemon began fighting, few of the Rockets could even fight back; this had been planned intentionally by Sean and I, to strike on the day the most powerful Rockets were on other business. Other than the Tamer we had already subdued, there were three other high-ranking Executives that could possibly prove troublesome; one was not to be found, and presumably fled from the fight to fetch backup. One of the remaining two had already been subdued by the rampaging Pokemon, his highly skilled battlers no match for the desperate masses.

And the last one was, according to my calculations, just around the corner.

I turned said corner, identifying the Executive's unique brain signature. I had met the human only twice before, both only briefly, however even that short time was enough for me to recognize it. As he entered my sights, I was not disappointed. It was indeed him. However, what I saw was quite interesting indeed.

The man was in mortal combat with none other than the Quilava from before, leading a veritable army of scrawny and beaten-down Pokemon. However, while the force would have normally been unimpressive, their sheer size and determination made up for their incompetence in battle. The Executive only had three Pokemon serving him at the time; a Sneasel, whom was looking rather tired and was covered in more wounds than the others, A Jolteon, looking near completely unharmed and locked in what seemed to be, a competition of speed with the Quilava, and a Victreebel, looking considerably confused at the situation and was apparently consuming two other Pokemon purely from instinct.

I dealt with the carnivorous plant first and foremost, unleashing a psychic blast of considerable potency into its mental matrix. Sure enough, the beast's mental resistances were pathetically low, and granted me access to the imbedded poison glands quickly; I hastily crossed several of the venoms contained in the creature's body, the result being a dangerous fluid that the Victreebel's body didn't know how to handle. It immediately regurgitated both of its victims, and promptly curled up near the wall in what could pass for a plant's fetal position.

With the plant dealt with, I turned my attentions to the human himself. Although I knew it would be futile, I probed the air looking for his mind; like I expected, an artificial defense immediately erected itself, blocking my telepathic waves from effecting the fragile human, as we had expected would be the case. He was currently brandishing a whip, snapping it at the attacking Pokemon force; any who fell victim to it were quickly rendered immobile.

I took out, from a small cloth bag attached to my waste, what appeared to be a small silver pocket watch. It was old, and probably worth a decent sum of money on a human's antique show; however, I was aware the value was not simple in that of monetary terms. Similar to the spoons more commonly used by my kind, it was made of pure silver, although it did not quite have the curves that were advantageous to my species' normal style of combat. Still, it had another, rather invaluable function and accessory that I found invaluable. Quickly, I undid the clasp at the bottom, letting it swing open; instead of a clock's face, as one would normally expect, what was revealed was a circular mirror, well polished and free of smudges. Mirrors were usually not used to reflect typical psychic energy; Mirrors were too unfocused, too unpredictable; it was almost impossible to maintain a psychic wave capable of damaging a mind using a mirror as a medium. However, I did not use those more crude methods often times.

I focused for a moment, letting the energy seep into the instrument and be reflected outwards. Like I expected, the electronic psychic barrier around the human was not triggered by these subtler waves; and, like I expected, the man staggered, swayed, before promptly falling to the floor, motionless.

Both the Sneasel and the Jolteon turned to look at their fallen master, the result being the former hit in the head by a particularly sizable Nidoking, and the later being pounced down upon by the Quilava, then held down by a Rattata and what appeared to be an Albino Eevee, followed quickly by the same Nidoking performing a rather violent kick to the back of the Eon's skull.

I attempted to assert order, however it appears my efforts were to be in vain. The Pokemon had gotten the gist of the situation, and that their only real threat was now disabled; therefore, they were exiting as fast as they possibly could. Even the Pokemon too uninspired to previously leave the cages were exiting with all haste.

In the mad dash, I made an attempt to locate Sean and keyed in on his brain signature, somewhere near the opposite side of the building. Moving swiftly, I made my way through the as-of-now, less populated corridors.

I found him bent over a computer, examining the contents of what appeared to be a Hyperdisk- A rather new type of compact disk, mainly used for programs far more powerful and massive than average. As much as I recalled, only Porygon and extremely powerful military AI programs required a Hyperdisk.

The device itself resembled a miniature computer; it was a glass box, containing a large reflective disk, which unlike the more common kind of compact disks, had no hole. There was also a black, squared piece of machinery resting on the center of the disk, up to the top of the box. A Cable, originating from a side of the box completely covered by the machinery, and connecting into one of the Computer's jacks.

I could tell the adolescent wasn't happy, as he furiously typed commands into the keyboard. Nothing appeared to be changing, however; I assumed he was attempting to crack a password of some sort.

'_It is time to leave, Sean.'_

The male nodded, and with a certain amount of reluctance, quitted the program and disconnected the Hyperdisk from it. He picked up the unit, looking at it closely like there was something to be learned from the text on the front of it, before storing it away in a pocket.

"So, what's up with him?"

I jumped slightly, having not noticed the fiery mammal sneak up right next to me. The Quilava seemed rather bored right now, which struck me as odd as the entire operation had just been liberated.

'_He is the son of the Mauville police chief, and has been able to access data on Rocket and other criminal activity in the area. In this particular instance, he posed as an upcoming member, offering police data to the Rockets as a peace gift and insurance. This, of course, was all done without authority and he will most likely be punished severely upon return to Mauville.'_

The Quilava yawned, completely ignoring my explanation as if it were complete gibberish. It was a definite possibility that to him, it was; He didn't appear to know much of human civilization. He was, perhaps, and exotic wild Pokemon.

I would have dearly liked to pick his mind with questions similar to that, but I realized right here was not the best place to hold a mental investigation.

'_Sean, I would strongly suggest vacating the premises immediately. The Self-Detonation will have been triggered by now, and it is quite dangerous to be within forty yards of the building._'

"Self-detonation?" The youth cried out in surprise. The Quilava's eyes grew large also. I happened to look at the computers, and spied a conspicuous looking sequence of rapidly falling digits, undoubtedly the destruction timer. They were much too low to possibly get out in time…

Quickly, focusing, I called up a technique signature to my species. Then after focusing the psychic energy within my own core, I spread it to the two organisms near me, draping them in the thick Psychic-wave field that was the targeting system of the technique.

Then, there was a flash of light, and all of us three disappeared as the numbers ticked down to 00.00.00.


	5. Of Narcissus Pt3

**Act 1 – Prologue**

**Chapter 5**

Hello; it's me, Blaze Ocean Dragon, here with a couple notes for you to make before you start this chapter.

Firstly, there is a character in this chapter that does not belong to me; she is used with permission, from Tracefan's The Darkness Within… ironically, as of time of posting, she has not debuted in said fiction.

Secondly, review dammit. Reviews are how I know people actually read this instead of clicking on it, then clicking back.

That's all I have to say for now, so, enjoy.

**-**

**---**

**-**

Narc blinked as the scenery materialized around him, a thick forest of broad-leaved deciduous trees. The plant life looked as if they hadn't been touched since the beginning of the world itself; massive trees grew unrestrained, creating a thick canopy blocking out almost all light. There weren't even signs of forest fires, which he knew were natural, and essentially nature's way of making sure trees didn't grow as thickly as… this. Some seemed to almost be trying to grow, using eachother as soil. Some WERE using eachother as soil, spreading out from large knots of rotten wood towards the hidden skies.

But, most eerily of all, there were no signs of life. Beyond the plants, Narc couldn't hear a single call, scurry, or any of the other natural forest-y sounds.

He vaguely noticed the two beings near him; the weird Kadabra and even weirder human.

They seemed to converse a bit, although the fiery creature took no interest in it. He looked around; forest on each side, all of it looking as spooky and overgrown as the spot before it.

He selected a random spot, and began moving through it, twining his lithe body through the mess of timber and ferns. He was careful to keep his flame down; while this place could really use a good forest fire, he doubted lighting one in a spot where it could get too big, too fast, was a good idea in any sense of the word.

'_Would it not make more sense for us to stay together?'_

The Quilava heard the slightly melodic, soothing telepathic transition, and nearly incinerated a branch near him in surprise. As he quickly reasserted his balance, he responded back with a loud thought.

'_Nope.'_

'_But I know where we are, getting out is a simple matter of-'_

'_I'll go this way.'_

'_But that way isn't the-'_

'_I'll go this way.'_

'_But that way only leads-'_

'_I'll go this way.'_

'_Fine, suit yourself.'_

Narc smirked a little as he noticed the exasperation in her thoughts, as odd as it sounded. Stupid psychic, thinking she knew the best way out… After all, who was to say that this direction didn't lead to a nice section of the forest, with food. And water, shelter…and fems. Gotta have the females.

He made his way through the infuriatingly complex vegetation systems. Three times, he had felt the Kadabra attempt to communicate with him again, but he ignored them. Sure, at this point he hadn't seen anything other than the scary, half-dead looking trees, but he was still confident they would lead him out. His flawless sense of direction had never led him astray before.

He'd get out soon enough. Definitely.

Well, most likely. Perhaps.

Maybe.

-

During his third day in the forest, Narc was slightly more than pissed. At least, he thought it had been three days; he could hardly tell by the light, as the canopy caught all but the slightest rays of sunshine, but he had slept thrice, so he generally assumed it had taken an equal amount of days.

He grumbled as he passed under a root, not caring as it smoldered behind him. He was long past caring if he incinerated the entire Arceus-damned place; he had still yet to see a single living soul, and he was quite sure anyone else would agree with him the entire thing was nothing but a giant eyesore. Maybe after a wildfire or two, it would spring back as a nice, proper forest…

Of course, he had then found almost all the trees were soaked through by some invisible water source. As it was, he hadn't accomplished anything more than a couple blacked, smoldering tree branches and an even worse temper.

And to add insult to injury, he hadn't seen a single edible object since he had entered the stupid overgrown area. So now he was angry, hungry, and bored out of his mind.

He was starting to think it might not have been so bad to stay with the Rockets.

And then, he simultaneously saw three things that changed his temperament significantly.

First and foremost, there was a break in the trees, revealing a lush glade bathed in sunlight. He saw that it was rapidly approaching sunset, but he hardly cared. It was light!

Secondly, he saw a small river running within the blade, before bending back and turning away to the east. That was even better; now he only had to follow the stream, as it would eventually have to lead outside of the forest boundaries. Even sparse shrubs grew around its boundaries, small inviting berries decorating them.

And thirdly, which Narc noticed with some enthusiasm, there was a rather attractive looking female Dragonair perched on the side of the river bank, her long neck dibbing down into the cool water.

Normally, Narc tended to avoid anything with a different amount of limbs as he, however at the moment he was willing to make an exception. He had spent the longest time cooped up in a cage with little female interaction (The Rockets had seen it fit to separate cages by gender; obviously, they felt the inmates shouldn't even get the pleasure of company of the opposite gender) and at the moment wasn't feeling picky.

Although he was feeling slightly lightheaded. One doesn't go multiple days in unnatural wilderness, without food or drink, without going slightly out of their own mind.

"Are…are you a mirage?" He said finally, with perhaps more confusion mixed in than he would've normally liked. Still, he was still disoriented, so he really couldn't blame himself.

The dragoness made a slight 'Hm?' sound from the back of her throat, before raising her slender head and looking towards the smaller mammal. He noticed a strangely placed silver orb located where her neck would've technically started, were it not indistinguishable from her body.

"Hello. No I'm not a mirage." She said in a voice eerily similar to the way the Kadabra had spoken earlier –still he was sure at least this time it wasn't in his mind. He felt strangely relaxed all of a sudden as she turned her attention to him, suddenly at peace.

"Oh. Hello then… I'm, err, Narcissus." He relied awkwardly, moving towards the lake, but still holding eye contact until he bent down to take a drink himself. He sighed with relief at the cold liquid running down his throat; He had little need for water, as he could go weeks without a drop of liquid, but it still felt good having something to clear his mind. And wash down those horrible spiky herbs he had tried to eat a while ago, despite them being obviously inedible.

"So, do you live in this forest?" the blue serpent inquired.

Narc blinked, having asked a similar question several times in the past, to various female species.

"…No. I'm just passing through. So, do you? Although, I can't imagine a pretty thing like you living in a place like this."

The dragon seemed slightly taken back by that, and Narc could've sworn he saw a hint of blush at the back of her face.

"No, I'm just visiting Hoenn for a while. My mate and I live on Kanto…" She said, placing a light emphasis on the word 'mate'. The rational part of Narc's mind sank, knowing that she was technically taken, while the irrational part celebrated her mate was all the way in Kanto and unable to hurt him.

"Ah, mate schmate. You are in Hoenn now, you should have a bit of fun" he said, with a slight chuckle as he absentmindedly plucked berries from the bush. He noticed her sleek form, which to him felt strangely attractive, even with the absence of limbs. Hm made an observation that caused his mouth to twitch upward slightly, even if his eyes didn't leave the form of the dragoness.

"So, how many ways can you use that body of yours? Because I can think of a few…"

A deep purple flashed across the dragon's face, as she recoiled physically slightly.

"Narcissus! I have a loving mate, which I am perfectly happy with. I would never…"

She stopped abruptly as she felt something warm and furred move along her left flank, blinking as she saw the Quilava right next to her. He winked when he saw her staring, smirking slightly as he responded.

"I know other tricks too."

"Narcissus, I will not tell you again. I am not interested."

"I don't see why, I'm definitely physically appealing enough. Besides haven't you wondered what it's like with something that has limbs…Err, what was your name again?"

The Dragonair narrowed her eyes.

"Sapphire."

As she completed that single word, Narc's ears drooped as he felt cold rain fall onto his form, the fires on his back protesting bitterly by flaring up with every drop. The Quilava looked upwards, with a wide-eyed expression that quickly changed to confusion. What appeared to be a dark cloud was now hovering above him, but… Only about two feet above. And it was no larger than he was, producing only enough precipitation to encompass his entire body.

Narc opened his mouth, but words failed him as it began to fill with rainwater. The Dragonair only regarded him with a raised eyescale, and a look that said 'I told you so'.

Narc shrugged slightly. "I suppose I'll see you around then. Bye!" And with that, he dashed off, not entirely unsurprised to see the cloud following him closely behind.

He saw the end of the forest, only slightly up ahead, and following the banks of the river he managed to avoid all trees, roots and other such crap.

He smiled as he broke away from the trees finally, out into the plains beyond, his velocity beginning to pick up. He could outrun the cloud; and now he was free from that damn forest, and no building run by complete imbeciles either. And most of all, no humans and their strange metal orbs.

The next moment, Narc felt a familiar, unpleasant sensation as one of said metal orbs released a beam of red light, catching him mid stride and pulling him into the darkness within it.

-

Eventually, Narc found himself brought back into the physical world, and was greeted by perhaps the five most unlikely organisms to see as soon as he materialized. The stupid ex-rocket human he had heard referred to as Sean, the his equally irritating Kadabra partner (Whom, he thought, looked rather smug that he had gotten lost after completely ignoring his suggestions), the Jolteon he had fought days ago during the massive breakout of the Rocket facility, Ven (his pelt now much more well groomed and shiny, which of course made him look like a massive prat), and a potted plant. The plant was rather intriguing; it had a black and green stem leading up to a large pink, red and yellow bloom up top, accented along the way by small black speckles. It looked rather prickly, and the stem was quite stiff although the leaves seemed incapable of holding its own weight. Yes, it was a rather strange plant.

So, Narc decided to dedicate all his current attention to said plant and completely ignore everyone else in the room. He heard both Sean and Ven say something, although he didn't bother listening to either; the former because he was genuinely uninteresting in all respects, and the later simply because he could.

The Jolteon didn't seem about to be ignored, and quickly made his thoughts on the matter apparent by delivering a sharp bite to the fire type's left hind leg, Who responded by belching a plume of fire in shock (lighting the potted plant on fire, incidentally), before turning around and releasing a similar plume of fire with obvious intent at the Eon.

However, before he could begin this transaction, he felt something small and furry barrel into his chest, knocking him down, before being restrained by some invisible force.

"Please don't struggle" The human said, flicking a lock of hair away from his face (which, at the moment was displaying a rather pathetic show of certainty and mild amusement, that the kid was most likely trying unsuccessfully to copy from his father or some such figure with a right to be so cocky) "I'm not entirely sure how fireproof the carpet is, and would appreciate it if you didn't burn the entire place down."

Narc paused for a moment, realizing he didn't even know where he was. He preformed a quick scan of his surroundings, seeing a rather bare room covered in pink wall paper and a rather ugly maroon carpet, before resuming struggling.

The human sighed, and then rolled his eyes a bit.

"Look Quilava, here's the facts. You were caught by a rocket grunt, then transported to the base. Fact. Your Pokeball was kept in storage with the tamer with all the others, which I had access to. Fact. You are rather strong, and I believe you'd be an asset to my team. Also fact."

Narc stopped struggling for a moment to look incredulously at the human. The child had to be kidding, to think that he would just go along with him like that… He knew little of other trainer-owned Pokemon, but he had NOT just escaped from one prison to go to another. Especially that dark orb again, that place was even worse than the cage, as he was still sure he still existed when he was in the cage.

The Kadabra groaned, as if even she didn't like the way the human had phrased his request/demand.

'_Perhaps I should explain this myself… The Pokeball you are registered in currently belongs to Sean, who seems to think that entitles to him to own you. In a certain sense, he is correct and can technically be registered as your trainer.'_

"And I refuse?" Narc said pointedly, making it obvious he intended to do just that.

'_Then you'll most likely launch a fireball in Sean's face, before running away and most likely never meeting us again. I would recommend thinking it over, however… Sean may be a little hard to get along with, but he means well. He intends to liberate several other Rocket facilities in a more frontal way than he did here, and he saw how well you dealt with the situation.'_

Narc thought it over for a second. "Alright, I can do that."

The Kadabra paused. Ven tripped over his own feet, his face planting itself into the ground. The Jolteon laughed slightly, while Sean simply looked confused.

'_Just…Like that?'_

Narc nodded. "Just like that. I like fighting, so I might as well tag along with you. As long as I don't have to go back into that ball."

Tiris nodded slowly.

'…_Alright, I'll tell that to Sean'_

She sounded slightly shaken, as if she had not expected it to be that easy to persuade him.

Narc smiled, enjoying the slight direst he had caused with his impulsive decision. He looked at the group once again, before gesturing to Ven and the Jolteon.

"So…Why are they here?"

'_Ven sought out you when you were not among those who escaped from the Rocket base, and was eventually captured by Sean in a way similar to how you were. The Jolteon was taken mainly as a hostage; however seems to be quite agreeable to whatever Sean asks of him. He and Ven apparently share a relative of some sort.'_

Narc nodded slowly, once again. "So…When do we get to fight?"

Sean smiled widely, getting the gist of what Narc was saying. He pulled out a large blue scroll, pulling it straight across the floor to reveal a complex diagram of white lines on the blue backing.

"Tomorrow if we're lucky. Here's the plan. I, Tiris and the Eevee will go in…"


	6. of Timeria

**Act 1 – Prologue**

**Chapter 6**

Right...Sorry about the wait, this had to have been the most difficult chapter yet to write. AND its not even a very good chapter in my books... I could probably do much better, if I tried. Still, the point is if I DID try, it would take months to get completed... and I personally want to get on with the story.

**-**

**---**

**-**

"So there is was, nearly twelve feet long and with teeth larger then your head, chasing me like some sort of demon. Still, it was as stupid as a rock, so I swam circles around it. It didn't even come close! Eventually, I put the poor bastard out of his misery… I led him into a big rock".

Timeria giggled as warm fruit juices made their way down her throat, amused by the obvious distortions and half-truths the larger Floatzel was spouting this time, complete with exaggerated gestures and theatrics that just made it so much more comical. Her twin tails swished happily behind the boulder she sat upon, a shiny red half-eaten apple in her right paw.

"So, I suppose you got all those bite marks from something completely different, right?"

She chuckled, all the while munching on her apple and savoring every bite. Around this time of year, fruit were scarce; even a small apple like the one she held was a rare and very welcome treat, a nice change from her ordinary diet of fish and smaller shellfish.

The Floatzel stumbled slightly, before standing upright again, looking slightly embarrassed that he forgot to include such a tell-tale detail.

"Uh, well… maybe I wasn't QUITE so fast…"

Timeria chuckled once before, before swallowing whatever was left of her apple (core and all) in a single chomp with her powerful jaws. She licked her lips of any remaining fruit particles, before standing up.

"Well, unless you have any other tales of valor and heroism for me, I think I'll go out for a while. Ceilla said she saw something interesting on the West Island; I think I'll take a look myself."

The elder Floatzel sobered up immediately, his eyes suddenly possessing a strange insecurity. "Interesting? How so, interesting?" he asked suspiciously.

Timeria winced.

"She… didn't specify."

The older of the two's eyes narrowed, his tails twitching slightly.

"Nothing to do with humans, I hope. They do come near here around this time of the year… And most of them are trainers eager to have an exotic Buizel on their team".

Timeria sighed.

"Dae, I know. Don't worry, I'll be careful… I always am."

Dae sighed once again, a small smile now on his muzzle.

"I know you are. I just don't want you to be hurt, that's all."

Timeria giggled again.

"Really Daedalus, you go off taunting Sharpedo and tell ME to be careful?"

Dae paused again.

"Well, I suppose you have me there. Alright then, off you go, sis."

Timeria nodded gratefully at her brother, before leaping off into the foliage near them. She smiled happily at the feeling of the light shrubbery nipping slightly at her coat, and the sweet scent given off by the large coniferous trees that grew thickly around the island. The place really was quite beautiful, although Dae really didn't think so. He had told her their summer home was much grander; with pearly white beaches as far as the eye could see, and massive trees with glossy leaves, and best of all, fruit.

Where they were right now, fruit was a valuable resource. There was only one small, wizened apple tree on the entire island, and though they had planted dozens more, they wouldn't be ready for years. The older tree only produced roughly eleven edible fruits each year, and at least three were always taken by passing Swellow or their kin.

Dae had told her the trees on their summer home were loaded with fruits, with glossy skins that you couldn't eat, but the insides tasted even better than apples. It didn't even matter hundreds of other Buizel and Floatzel were also then; there were so many fruit, it didn't matter.

Timeria's mouth watered at the thought of so many of the succulent foods. Here, all she really had to eat were a couple sour berries, and fish, which while filling, weren't incredibly appetizing. Sweet, sweet fruit on the other hand…

Timeria shook her head, trying to dislodge the thoughts of food, as she cleared the forest, breaking out into a wide bay. Here the ocean once again stretched far into the distance… with a massive, rocky island breaking it in the center, of course. The island didn't look particularly interesting, nor safe; it was comprised of a wide band of fine gravel all around it, with a wide rock shelf jutting out from the center making a tall, steep, brown mountain. Still, Ceilla said there was something up there, and she didn't know her to lie. Maybe be a bit scatterbrained, but not lie.

Timeria stretched herself a bit, before leaping into the waves near her, with barely a plop signaling her entrance. Her tails twisted around, whipping the water expertly and propelling her forward while she also swam with her paws and feet, both carving through the water like they were made to.

Minutes later, she found herself on the coarse ground of the isle, walking awkwardly around it, looking for whatever Ceilla could've possibly meant. She examine the cliffs and the stones surrounding it, but saw heard and felt nothing more than the rocks, the water and the rough gravel beneath her feet. She sighed, prepared to turn back, when she heard the rustle of some stones from behind her.

She turned around curiously, only to tumble down, landing painfully on the small rocks beneath her. She groaned when she saw the incredibly short, light blue pet of what barreled into her.

"Hello Timeria." Ceilla said with a note of humor in her voice, the large crest-like fin framing her face bouncing slightly with the rest of her head.

Timeria groaned.

"Ceilla, could you possibly get off me?"

The Vaporeon nodded enthusiastically, before making a show of walking daintily onto the stones beneath her. After she was fully off, and allowed the Buizel to stand up again, she sat down on her hind legs, smiling cutely.

Timeria rolled her eyes. "So, why'd you bring me here anyway?"

The Vaporeon blinked, cocking her head slightly to the side.

"You didn't see it?"

"Obviously not, as I wouldn't be asking you if I did, would I?"

The quadruped smirked slightly, as she got to her feet and dashed off somewhere else on the island. Timeria called after her for a moment, before chasing after her.

Ceilla stopped abruptly, at a point where the steep cliff face of the mountain part of the island met the ground, where she pawed at a bundle of dead-looking grass.

"Right here's where I found it… ah, yes!"

She held up in victory, a deep dark purple stone. It looked shiny, as if it had been polished, and was roughly the size of half her paw. She looked, smiling up at Timeria, displaying the stone out in her paw freely.

"Doesn't it look pretty?"

Timeria cocked a head curiously at it, tapping it experimentally with a paw.

"I was supposed to find this? Without you telling me where it was?" She asked, her eyes still firmly locked on the pretty rock.

The Vaporeon blinked, her mouth making an almost comical 'O' shape. "Right, I suppose that might've helped…" She muttered, more to herself than to anyone, but quickly sprung up again.

"So, what do you think it is?"

Timeria took the stone from the Vaporeon, putting it up to the sun and humming slightly. Although she could tell it was purple, not black, it seemed to get darker, not brighter, when she put more light on it.

"I don't know" she said finally, handing it back. "But it's a good find anyway. I'd keep it."

The orange sea-weasel's ears suddenly pricked up, as they caught another sound in the distance other than the oceanic scenery.

"Timeria!" She heard called out by another creature from the waters, looking similar to both her brother and herself at the same time. It was a male, to be sure; his pelt was slightly thicker than her own, his buoy and fins somewhat smaller than her own. Unlike her brother though, this one was a Buizel, like herself.

The smiling male walked up to her at a leisurely pace once he arrived on shore. He had a wide grind, and she could tell he was making a significant effort to look proud and confident… although it ended up looking more like forced cockiness. She smiled a little inside; this newcomer was Riallon (Ria to most residents of the island), one of the few other Buizel-kin on the island besides herself and her brother. The two had been friends for the longest time, although recently Ria had begun to act… strange.

She giggled slightly, remembering what her brother had told her before, about Buizel males and their habits. Around his own age, Ria would be interested in attracting a mate… and since he and she were among the very tiny pool of bachelors, it was quite evident she would be his first target.

"Hi Timeria" He repeated once he finally walked up to them, placing a paw on her shoulder.

"Hello Ria… Did you want something?" She inquired, friendly eyes looking up at her friend.

"No… Well, yes, actually I'd think to know if you would possibly consider-" He paused, suddenly, as he caught sight of the item in Ceilla's hands.

"Where'd you find that?"

The Vaporeon stuck up her nose snobbily at the male. "It's mine. I found it." She said, looking closer at the dark stone.

"Right." He said, looking at the stone with an odd expression.

"Uh, Timeria, you wouldn't mind meeting me later this night… say, right here. You know, with nobody around…" His eyes shifted a little bit, as his left foot pawed the ground nervously…"

Ceilla giggled.

"Of course she will" The vaporeon answered, after only a brief glance at the expression of surprised that seemed permanently plastered on the female Buizel's face.

"Great." The male breathed a sigh of relief. "See you later, then?" He said, looking back, before leaping once again into the surf.

Ceilla giggled again.

"Looks like you have a date"

"Ye-yea, I suppose so…"

----

Two beings conversed in a dark cavern, only thin rays of moonlight light falling upon the small holes in the cave's west side. One was in clear view, but was beyond description; one could say it was everything, and yet at the same time, less than nothing, at the same time. Only a brief glimpse at its silhouette could baffle the mind, confuse even the hardiest of mathematicians and philosophers. It was a being so ancient, so regal, that the mere sense of his presence made one want to shudder in fear, and bow down in awe and respect at the same time.

The second being, was much more traditional, with a normal definite shape and form. Still, it was cloaked in the recesses of the shadows, the inky darkness removing every hint and clue to the species, gender and details of the servant. For it was, indeed a servant; the formless, ageless being near it, regarded it as so.

"You have done well. I am pleased."

The cave seemed to vibrate with his words, carving them into the mind as well as the ear. They carried with them, a strange chill, like that which came from a time, a place, that it was not from, nor where it was supposed to be.

"Thank you, master. I live only to serve." Came a much more normal voice, meek and submissive, from the shadowed creature. Its gender was indecipherable from the voice, startlingly enough, as if the ageless being itself wished its identity hidden.

"Continue as you have done until now. I shall be watching."

"Yes, master."

-

"She's awake"

Timeria heard those two words, looking startled into the face of an Eevee; white, although she didn't quite register this abnormality.

"Where am I?" She said, franticly, looking around. This wasn't where she last remembered she was… She should be on her island, just waking up. Now she was in some sort of human building, covered on all sides by dark walls and stone. The Eevee backed up somewhat.

"Take it easy…" He said tentatively.

"Take it easy?" She snapped at him. "How can I take it easy, after I wake up in this place… after… after…"

She paused as a strange, yellow creature with brown segments placed a palm upon her forehead, relaxing her and causing her to go limp. The creature regarded her with a straight state.

"Now…remember."

She felt a lurch as strange energy entered her mind… and then, within a few seconds, she recalled the traumatic experiences she had forgotten, between when she had fallen asleep and now…

'_She was on the island, as she told Ria she would be… When, from behind she was ambushed… a strange creature, no legs or arms, only a head and a strange neck, a necklacke of red pearls strung around it. The entire thing was made of a strange, contorting dark energy… It screeched an unearthly song, and she fell to her knees, blacking out…_

_'She awoke again, but wished she hadn't… the evil creature had her tied to a stone, as it cackled maliciously in her ears. 'What pretty eyes you have', it had said, causing tears to well up in said organs. 'Perhaps I shall take them for myself'. She recalled massive pain in her eyes, a bloody red pain she couldn't completely recall… _

_The ghost laughing all the while, preventing her from escaping into death, or unconsciousness…_

_'She remembered the pain letting up, and her sight returning; she saw things she didn't before, shadowed silhouettes on the horizon, floating specters over the ocean… _

'_For whatever we take, we give' The creature had said, now much larger and with a purple, pointed hat. 'For your old eyes I have taken with my old power… and with my new power, I have given you new ones. Come, see what I see… the world for what it really is.'. And then, she had blacked out again._

_'She remembered being immobilized, tied to a rock as humans poured out of black boats onto the island, with many cages. She saw them capture the Pokemon of the land in metal spheres, or place them in large cages they had brought with them… She saw Ceilla, bawling as she was shoved into one of the tiny iron chambers…_

_And she saw her brother, bloody and injured from bite wounds, fall into the surf as Sharpedo swarmed towards him… and never resurface.'_

_'She saw herself, hauled away in a small ball to a massive dark building…_

_And then, she saw the door blasted open, as humans in blue clothing swarmed the building.'_

The Buizel collapsed, sobbing, to the ground. She saw the yellow creature nod, and walk away towards a human nearbyl the two seemed to converse, as she lay, sobbing on the ground.

Another creature, a quadruped with fire actively burning upon his back, came up and nuzzled her.

"It's okay."He said, somewhat awkwardly.

"What's your name?"

Timeria choked out another sob, as she replied.

"Timeria".


	7. Of a Smaller Cage

**Act 1 – Prologue**

**Chapter 7**

**-**

**---**

**-**

Narc smirked as he stared down at the scientist, confident his vantage point gave him complete immunity from whatever the human could possibly throw at him. Although he wasn't particularly fond of the kid (Rather, he thought him a pompous, overbearing, egotistical macho who was much too overconfident that anything would actually work. Oddly enough, Narc had the slightest feeling of hypocrisy as he thought that.), he had to admit the human had some good ideas. After crawling through a rather spacious ventilation shaft, the fire type found himself placed right over the main laboratory without so much as a scratch or tell-tale corpse left behind to signal his presence. While he admitted it was slightly stuffy, it really wasn't too bad.

The scientist, completely oblivious to the fiery intruder above him, went about his business as was apparently normal, which as this moment seemed to entail preparing a needle of some sort. Narc was momentarily distracted by the complex movements and steps the human appeared to be going through, including mixing liquids from several conspicuously colored jars, plastered with large labels in a variety of delightful colors. Narc found himself particularly fond of the colorless bottle with the big glaring red label, as he swore to himself he saw a puff of smoke appear as the scientist open it. Of course, Narc considered he was still proportionally insane at the moment from his experiences in the forest (Not to mention that disastrous encounter with the… what was it again? Seviper? Gyarados maybe?, ah, it hardly mattered), so reasoned with himself picking favorites out of a variety of bottles was perhaps not the worst thing he could do. Naming them, on the other hand…

Just as Narc was about to launch a stream of fire at Dionysus, a tall green bottle with three yellow labels in a corner and one large, important-looking blue one, he felt his paw vibrate. The Quilava looked at it for a moment, wondering why there was a tiny black box attached to limb for a moment, before he heard the obnoxious human's voice radiate from it, in much worse quality. While the boy's normal voice usually wasn't pleasant, this was beyond that, almost like what you'd get by smashing a couple of rocks together several times.

'_Tiris, the Jolteon and Eevee are in place. Commence the operation.'_

Narc blinked, having remembered something about an 'Operation'. He was supposed to…

Uh…

Now…. What was it again?

Narc shook his head slightly, wondering what he had been told to do in the first place, before rationalizing it hardly mattered anyway. These days, people had been telling him to mess things up and sow chaos, rahter than anything remotely subtle or complexed anyway… And Narc tried not to disappoint, when at all possible.

So, with a little mental shrug, Narc launched a fireball at the scientist he had been observing for the past few minutes, before encasing his entire form in fire as he shot down to the table of combustible materials.

Both the human and table made satisfying sounds as both he and his fireball met their targets. The table exploded in a dazzling display of red and blue, with yellows, greens and purples quickly adding to mix as glass bottles slipped and crashed to the floor. A fair amount of black smoke was pouring out the ceiling, as the alarms began blaring.

Narc thought it was a rather well done job, as far as incinerating random tables of chemicals went. He didn't have much time to gloat, however, as the Scientist got up to his feet.

"Oh, you've messed with the wrong the person" The white coat said, dusting off his namesake while adjusting his glasses.

"Do you know who I am? I'm Arthur Reid, Rocket extraordinaire! And there's no way that a single Quilava will could possibly defeat me…especially right after my promotion…Now, prepare to be defeated!"

Roughly five minutes later, Narc found himself bored, dawdling in the corridors and randomly torching things whenever he felt it. He had done what he (thought) he was supposed to do, draw the enemy attention to him… he had done that, finished it, and now he was bored.

The Quilava yawned, before he turned around, intending to scout out the opposite hallway.

And looked right into the muzzle of a rather large, red-furred canine.

Narc backed up slightly at the sight of the Arcanine, who simply laughed in his face. The (plainly female, Narc noticed with some enthusiasm) Newcomer chuckled a bit more, before actually addressing him.

"So, you're all this is about? A scrawny Quilava"

Narc shrugged and grinned. "Yup. And you're all I have to deal with? A scrawny Arcanine?"

The dog chuckled a bit more, eyes locking with his. "Cute. But, I suppose the time for jokes is over…If you'll just go quietly, this will go quite a bit fas-"

Narc blinked, as the female disappeared mid word, then groaned as he felt her slamming into his chest a moment later. The smaller fire type skidded across the floor, before coming to a full stop in the face of his enemy.

"Extreme Speed. Right." He grunted, looking sour at the thought of fighting someone as fast as he was. But, not all fights would be in his favor… he'd have to deal with it.

Narc jumped backwards, summoning two clones with him at the same time. The trio leapt for the canine, one getting caught in her vicious jaws (disappearing instantly), while the other two slammed into her side. The Arcanine grunted slightly, the attack having more power than a small creature like he should be able to muster up. But, she endured it easily, retaliating by snapping her jaws through the second clone. She mentally cursed her luck, as she turned towards the final Narc.

The Quilava, apparently expecting this, quickly struck out at his opponent's face with a pair of claw-strikes, followed by a hit to the side of the face with the slower claws. He mentally congratulated himself on the stylishness of the combination, before being knocked out of his ego-party by a powerful blow by the tail.

Narc called out in surprise, as he was knocked to the ground. Quickly returning his paws to the floor, he and the Arcanine stared at eachother for a moment, before they both cracked a smirk.

Now this… this would be interesting.

---

Ven grumbled.

"Exactly WHAT are we doing here?" he asked, one of his ears flicking back for emphasis. The Jolteon he was addressing merely smiled in retaliation, and continued looking down the (Still) deserted corridor they were stationed at the corner of.

Ven fumed for a moment at being ignored, before deciding to simply screw it all and shove his claws into his newfound sibling's own.

The Jolteon gave a rather loud yowl, fur momentarily sticking up into spikes, before returning to normal. Even then, the yellow eon barely spared the white Eevee a dirty look, before returning to his watching.

Ven rolled his eyes again, once again wondering how smart it was to bring this guy along. He'd already showed he couldn't be trusted… he converted with almost no fight, for crying out loud! Even if he was his brother, brining a Rocket into a Rocket headquarters...

"Now!"

Ven blinked suddenly as his partner bounded off into the hallway he had, so painstakingly been observing earlier. Peeking a head curiously over the corner, he witnessed said Jolteon leap at a whitecoat, knocking him to the ground. Ven puzzled over exactly why this was done, until he noticed a previously locked door, now somewhat ajar.

The white Eevee shook his head for a moment, before walking towards the triumphant Jolteon (Who's quills, he noted, were doing a kind of a strange victory… twitch).

"I give up. What was the point of that Orin?" He sighed, finally coming up his newfound sibling. Truthfully, he had refused to believe that one of his brothers, who he hadn't seen in years, had not only become a Rocket, but left him to rot in a cage for months. Even now, he was completely boggled on how he could possibly trust the turncoat Jolteon… But, he supposed, it wasn't quite as crazy as trusting Narc with… anything.

…He should really stop pressing his luck with gambles such as that.

The electrical Eon chuckled slightly, nudging open the ajar door beside him.

"Remember the schematics earlier? Well, I noticed it didn't include the first laboratories… where they keep the Pokemon they intend to test for the next week or so. Could be intentional, although it smells more like a filing error to me… Anyway, there should be a decent number of cage-ees here. So, I thought we'd stop by here first before we go nuts on the place…"

Ven glanced curiously at his brother, before crawling lithely through the opening. Despite his mental preparation, he still felt some of his breath drawn out of him; what appeared to be hundreds of cages, some smaller than he was, and others about as large as a human, all stacked together haphazardly. Every one of them was filled with a sullen, beaten looking Pokemon… but unlike the ones he had grown accustomed to, who had grown lax and hopeless in their imprisonment, these ones looked ready for combat. Their bodies were often scarred, and covered in calluses and other souvenirs from battle. Muscles rippled from underneath fur and natural armor, some looking painfully enflamed. But worst of all, each one of their eyes had a strange, maddened gleam to it… like they would bite the arm off the first one to walk within eyesight, let alone one feeding it. He could tell these ones probably wouldn't join him, if they were released… If he could release them, they looked about ready to kill him on the spot, cage or no cage. He briefly wondered how the scientists managed to handle them, in this state.

A Raichu within a few feet of him stared at him for a moment with a confused expression, like he couldn't quite understand why he was here, then abruptly stood up and hissed (fur sticking up on end), at the other Eon. Ven looked at the Raichu oddly, before turning to his brother. "He doesn't seem to like you, does he?"

"No" The electric type said, perhaps sourly. "I suppose he doesn't."

Immediately following those words, Ven felt his muscles freeze up as electricity invaded his body, locking it in position. Then, his side exploded in pain as a rock-hard fist collided with it, before snatching him up and throwing him into an empty cage, he had before taken for granted. The Eevee looked around wildly, between the Raichu (Who had spat, turned around and lied his head down, presumably in disgust), his brother (Who had also turned around, and was licking a paw awkwardly) and his captor, who he could now see clearly, was a rather large and burly Makuhita. Said fighting type was currently laughing, folds of fat (He had once heard Makuhita's bodies were pure muscle. Seeing one up close, Ven had no doubt this was a load of crock) bouncing and shaking rather disgustingly.

"So, Orin", it said finally, lifting Ven's cage with ease and jangling it slightly, causing the vulpine creature inside to collide painfully with the close bars that it was made up of. "You say this one's worth a bit, then?"

"More than the five quid you'd probably get from selling him on the BM, anyway" the Jolteon replied, still not turning around.

"He's a shiny" The Makuhita said, pudgy face examining the caged quadruped more closely. "I'd get more than a pittance of quid on the BM for him. Exactly what's his ransom worth, anyway?"

"I'd say anywhere… between two-hundred and fifty thou, and four hundred and twenty" The Jolteon replied, yet again showing no signs of showing his face once again to his scandalized brother.

"His owners are exceptionally wealthy… And, if memory serves, he pretty much owns the entire solo-Pokemon economy of Rustboro himself. After letting his disappearance ferment for a while, I'd say we'd be able to milk a fair amount from the deal…"

"You better not be jack-assing me on this one again, Orin. You got me in a fair mite of trouble with that incident with the Rattata, just so you could get the three-odd thou reward money, and the chance to screw that whore!"

The Jolteon visibly flinched. "And I think you'll have more than enough when this deal goes through. You can keep it all, I don't want it."

The Makuhita scratched his head. "You don't want any? What the hell's wrong with you, you sick or something? Or…" The fighting type gave his yellow furred accomplice a strange look, "Or are you going to do something stupid again? Last time you said something like that, you went out with that skank of yours."

Another flinch. Ven began to wonder exactly who this 'whore' was, that could make the strange Jolteon flinch at their every mention. He filed the information away, although kept it noted, incase he needed to use it for revenge, or blackmail purposes.

"I've learned my lesson, don't worry." The Jolteon said, walking slowly out the door. Then, almost as an afterthought, the Jolteon turned towards his brother, face emotionless. "Later, Ven."

Then, he left, letting the door click behind him.

- - -

Narc panted, staring at his opponent. The Arcanine seemed similarly exhausted, tired, and irritable, as she pawed the ground and shook her mane. "So then…" She puffed, tongue hanging out slightly. Normally, Narc would've noticed the innuendo of a tongue that long… at the moment though, he was spending enough brainpower trying to stay awake.

"Who wins?" She finally said, after a few moment's pause.

Narc himself paused for a moment, just staring at the larger fire type. Then, suddenly, he grinned. "Actually… I would say she does" He said after a moment. The other fire type blinked, then turned her head around, where a small, yellow Pokemon was waiting, holding a silver mirror on a pendulum on one hand.

"_Good night_" she said simply, with a hint of a smile. Then, without even so much as a single glow of the eyes, the canine collapsed into a sleeping bundle of fur. Tiris nodded slightly, touched a finger to the wolf's head (making her growl slightly in her sleep), then walked quietly over the dog's body.

"_You are tired_." She said simply to Narc as she approached. The Quilava merely cocked a head at her, looking at her with a dumbfound expression.

"I thought psychics like you are supposed to be smart."

"We are."

"Well, you'd think it would be pretty obvious I'm tired then… Just a… -yawn- short nap… then…" Narc mentioned, his words becoming sluggish and slurred as he yawned. The Kadabra rolled her eyes at him, flicking her mirror-pendulum from left to right, as the fire type was led into sleep.

"Just a short…nap" He said, finally falling into a deep slumber.

- - -

Ven stared nervously at the two Pokemon he had been placed in between, almost neglectfully, by his overweight captor. One was the Raichu he had seen before, who looked as dirty and bloodshot as before. But, at least, that one wasn't _completely _ignoring him when he asked what was going on… After the first few hours, the Eevee had taken it upon himself to learn as much as he could. So, questioning the Raichu as much as he felt was smart, he learned its (It was rather difficult to discern its gender at the time, and he felt it untactful to ask) name was Ray (Not short for Raymond; just Ray), he had been in possession by the rockets for a period between one and four years (it was difficult to tell time, apparently), And that he had no clue what the point of the facilities were. After that, the Raichu was infuriatingly uncooperative, and he decided it was best to stop talking when the mammal attempted to punch at him through the cage.

The other one… well, it was difficult to question her (She seemed clean enough to pertain a gender from, luckily), as she appeared to be completely unconscious. She was a longish, furred creature with two tails and a strange yellow balloon-type thing, around the throat. Ven vaguely remembered the species being called…Buizel, was it?

Well, in any case, it didn't look like she would be much help of any sort.

So, he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And then yelled painfully as his cage fell upon the hard ground, as the ground shook with massive seismic vibrations. Pokemon all around him hissed, spat and growled at the sudden disturbance and display of power. Ven's mind was racing.

'_An earthquake? Why now? Here? We aren't near any continental plate hotspots…'_

His mind suddenly froze, as he saw the brick wall in front of him crumble before his very eyes. At first, it started with subtle cracks, gradually growing bigger… and until, soon enough, an entire brick was dislodged from the system. There was a brief pause, and then…

The entire wall was blown away, mortar, brickwork and sand flying everywhere. Ven closed his eyes and coughed a bit as result from the large amounts of dust… perhaps too much. Since when does a wall contain that much sand?

His question was answered, as, tentatively, a large green being walked in through the hole. It had small eyes on each side of its long, cylindrical head, both shielded by strange rose-colored semi-spheres. It had a long, thin (Yet sturdy and well built) body, striped with dark and light green bands all the way up and down the body. Skinny arms prodded from the body, three dangerous-looking claws prodding from each, and talon-like feet.

A Flygon then. He supposed that explained the sands… Flygon usually possessed an almost arcane power over small grains of rock, often using it to shield themselves or help spearhead their attacks. Just then, Ven noticed the Flygon wasn't alone… standing a small distance away from it, was a Raven-haired female human, wearing a colorful red shirt and ragged blue jeans. She strode cockily into the caged area, apparently unaware of all the murderous glares she was getting from the prisoners, while she spread her arms out high.

"Do not fear, my Pokemon friends! I have come to liberate you from the rocket menace!"

Ven felt his jaw drop, and made no effort to return it to its original position. Was this girl for real? For a moment, he had thought she was a police officer, or something likely to have something as strong as a Flygon… Not another cocky, theatric teenager.

He heard his inner sigh mimicked from near the girl herself, and drew attention to the third creature he now saw outside of a cage. This one was a small, yellow rodent with a lightning-bolt shaped tail, and brown stripes along the back.

"Sasha…" He heard the small Pikachu moan in apparent dismay. Well, at least one of them had sense, he rationalized, and attempted to get their attention by wagging his tail and attempting to stand up his cage again. This, of course, failed as all he managed to do was flop pathetically in the small confined space.

"Oh?" he heard the Pikachu say, as she apparently noticed something. Ven breathed a sigh of relief that he had been found, and prepared to call out to his rescuers… and was promptly rendered speechless once again as the Pikachu passed right by him, instead opting to look at the caged Raichu near him.

"Who are you then?" She asked cutely. Ven carefully chose the adjective, noting she was actually attempting to sound cute. It didn't sound too forced, luckily, but it was still enough to make Ven gag slightly… and his words die in the back of his throat once again. He also noticed the Raichu itself seemed particularly interested in the newcomer and somewhat less violent… although it didn't prevent it from issuing a warning growl.

"Ocean!" He heard the human call. The Pikachu's eyes flicked to her trainer for a moment, before moving back the human's side, almost dissapointed.

"Do not worry!" The girl announced once more, spreading her arms to the heavens.

"The police will be here soon, and will see that you are all properly cared for and returned to your previous owners!"

Another chorus of growls and hisses, although with a bit less venom this time, he noted.

"So, if you would all just stay ca-"

in the midst of her third speech, the girl was interrupted by another explosion, and the intrusion of a human Ven recognized as the boy from before, that had somehow conned him into doing this. "Everyone needs to get out –NOW-" He said, breathlessly.

"Why?" The girl seemed slightly ticked off, and partially curious about being interrupted.

And then, suddenly, there was a crunching sound as metal grated on metal, with one side loosing. Another wall suddenly caved in, destroying with it a large portion of the ceiling and causing the pokemon to hiss out in discomfort once again. A massive, blue-steeled leg appeared to repleace the former brick wall, towering over all of them, almost three times as tall as the humans themselves; more worryingly, three triangular claws layed infused into the arm itself, making it look dangerous, like a weapon of some sort.

A high pitched wail came from slightly higher than the leg, and Ven noticed, with a sinking feeling in his chest, that there was a large, spherical portion connected to the arm by another bit of steel. The spherical portion had a large, metallic X across its front portion, highlighting the two red eyes in its visage, which stared down at them all with impartial mechanicalness.

The male human's face paled at the sight of the gargantuan Metagross, which was staring at him with its cool, dangerous eyes.

"THAT'S WHY!"


	8. Of Doors and Frustration

**Act 1 – Prologue**

**Chapter 8**

**-**

**---**

**-**

Narc yawned, enjoying the last moments of a very pleasant dream. The sun was clear, the wind was sweet, and there was no water in sight… And of course, the most important ingredient, the females were there (in great quantity and quality). He sighed in pleasure, just enjoying the peace (and other things), with the several dozen fems of a rather broad array of species. Then, just as he was about to lie with a particularly cute looking Eevee, he noticed a strange being amidst his harem; another female, to be sure, but he knew there wasn't supposed to be a Kadabra here..

"Time to wake up" He heard, then clawed out fiercely as the scene before him evaporated, sucked within a dark abyss without warning. Narc gave a small whine, as he opened his eyes to the artificial lighting of the base.

"Why'd you have to go and do that?"

Tiris smiled grimly down at the annoyed Quilava, before returning her expression to that of a neutral observer, as always.

"I apologize for being so rough on my Dream Eater usage, however my patience is wearing thin and we have bigger problems. Much bigger". The humanoid gestured a claw towards a strange blue pillar, sticking out on an odd angle in a corner of the building. Narc blinked, his pupils gradually growing as his mind grew accustomed to the waking world.

"Is that…" He slurred, finally catching on as he followed the pillar up through the ceiling, where it converged with three other pillars into a smaller central point.

Tiris sighed, wondering if it was such a good idea to put him to sleep in the first place.

"Yes, that is a Pokemon. A Metagross, if I remember my basic biology correctly, although it is rather oversized. Apparently, this… thing was owned by one of the executives we could not terminate before they could attempt to hinder the takeover. However, it appears to be slightly …stupid. We may be fine if we can keep the executive from initiating any orders, and evacuate the premises without alerting the beast itself."

Narc nodded, not completely comprehending the situation, but still understanding it in a way he normally could. Big thing, bad. No anger big thing. Okay. Find small thing that commands big thing. Okay then.

Narc nodded again as he shot off down a hall way (nearly tripping over the motionless body of the Arcanine), completely ignoring Tiris' further instructions. He turned a corner, into another hallway, then as he quickly found his way to the end of that one, again into an identical hallway. Narc grunted, already sick of the uniform look, and randomly selected a door. Shoving his entire weight into the metal-plated door (Backed up by a significant amount of fire-enhanced momentum he built up), the force quickly managed to crack the (startlingly frail) lock, and cause the door to crumble outwards.

Narc paused as eleven different pairs of Pokemon all stared at him, mostly annoyed. Narc opened his mouth to say something, looked around at what appeared to be an artificial field, filled with said eleven male/female pairs of Pokemon at different sections, faces looking both disappointed and angry at being interrupted. Narc blinked as he noticed the similarly stunned faces of (what could only be) the remaining scientists in the building, looking through a Plexiglas window a floor up.

Narc uttered a quiet apology, before quietly exiting the room and shutting the door after him (Rather unsuccessfully, as the hinges were rather mangled from his heated entry, and he lacked hands proper for doing the job).

After crashing another door and discovering a similar arrangement (with the Pokemon residents obviously not willing to leave at the moment), Narc gave a mental sigh, before dashing around the corner. Turning around once more to another room full of uniform grey, slightly reinforced doorways, he selected another and slammed into it once again. He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, yet another Metagross limb, but ignored it for now.

Once again, Narc blinked at what he found within the strange grey doorway. This particular room seemed to lead into a small room (divided partially by a wall, with another door in it), with a soft red carpet, two couches, and a table. A surprised, blond-haired, black-jean wearing male teen stared at him, whereas walking in from the other door, was a black-haired male teen with white pants, holding a recently opened can of Soda. A Weavile in the former hissed menacingly at him, who simply stood in the doorway, taken back slightly at the difference at this one, compared to the last.

"Joshua…"

The black-haired human said, staring at the intruder, before looking at his hand like he just noticed the can of fizzy drink there. He took a long swing of the beverage, before turning to the other human in the room.

"This is some crazy shit."

The other teen simply sighed, stood up and stretched.

"Yet, not as crazy as some of the shit I've seen anyway. Well, I suppose I couldn't expect a break to last this long..." The human rummaged through his pocket, before pulling out a select ball, and releasing the catch on it. The white energy released from it shimmered, before forming into a small, purple floating humanoid, with a large pointed hat.

"Omen" the Teen continued.

"Continuance Modification, if you would please. And bring us back to Fenrir, I get the feeling things are about to get hairy here."

The small Pokemon nodded, before it held its arms up, glowing. Narc backed away slightly; a bit nervous of this strange creature and the flashy ability it appeared to be doing. The light increased in intensity, until it was completely blinding. Narc was weightless, as if he were floating in nothing… Then, he knew nothing more.

Narc blinked, having momentarily forgotten what he was doing. He remembered a split second later, as he shot down another hallway, into another row of uniform doors, before slamming into another one. He felt the rather brittle lock crack from the pressure and heat of his attack, and entered.

Then promptly exited as all he saw was an empty room. Disappointing, but he had a job to do. That executive could be in any of these rooms… so, he simply had to keep slamming into random ones, until he either found him, or they found him.

Picking another door at random, Narc once again pushed his way through it. He frowned, seeing nothing but a semi-large, wet, metal-coated room with a dangerous-looking whirlpool at the back. There were a couple strange pieces of machinery along the sides, some looking like they could lower something into the whirlpool, and he could've sworn he saw a Sharpedo fin in the waters itself…

Well, there weren't any humans in there, so Narc left once again, sighing to himself. This could take a while.

- - -

Ven stalked his rather puny cage once again, hating the situation he was in. Not only had both humans, the Pikachu and Flygon all left, but now he was stuck in a tiny cage to be ransomed, betrayed by his own brother AND there was a massive freaking Metagross that looked like it could crush him at any given moment!

At this point, Ven really, really, REALLY, hated his life.

"Ah, there you are!" He heard a small voice chuckle, then hissed loudly as the cage was carelessly flipped over, jarring every one of his bones.

"I worried you might have gotten away when those irritating humans got in… no matter…"

Ven growled, finally recognizing the Makuhita's layers of fat from his vantage point, even though he still couldn't see the face.

"Look you fat bastard-" He finally managed to growl out, before being interrupted by another jarring twist of the cage. Feeling quite sick at this point, the Eevee decided trash-talking his captor was probably more trouble than it was worth.

"Now don't worry… I'll still get my money, so don't worry your pretty white head about it, Venny boy." The Makuhita said with a strange, cooing type voice, before patting the top of the cage. Ven grumbled, wondering really if it wasn't worth taking the piss out of the fighting type, but eventually decided to ignore it by shoving his fluffy tail over his ears.

That is, until he saw a semi-familiar yellow blur rush past his side. Quickly bringing back his tail and forgetting everything about staying quiet, the Eevee blurted out a long string of expletives, followed only afterwards by a semi- cohort sentence towards the traitorous Jolteon.

"Oh, hello Ven. Ghect. So, how are you both doing this fine evening?" Orin said with a perfectly cheery face, seemingly oblivious to the massive steel Pokemon that loomed over them like a wrecking ball.

Ven responded to that with even more expletives, followed by threats that grew increasingly improbable, yet still didn't loose any effect.

The Jolteon seemed completely unphased, actually grinning a bit as Ven continued (although it was a strained, rather creepy looking smile, complimented by his tapping of the ground impatiently).

"That's great Ven, that you know so many words. I'm so proud of my little brother. Now excuse me, but there's a huge-ass demolition squad breathing down our necks and I, for one, am not about to let it get me." The Jolteon finally choked out, interrupting the Eevee in the middle of his "rant" of sorts, and leaping down the hallway.

Ven called after him for a while, before grunting and settling back into the cage with a bad temper. It took him a while to notice the cage wasn't stable, and seemed to be shaking with an odd sort of sounds. What was happening? Another earthquake? Or-

Ven called out in fury when he discovered the source of the sound and shaking was the Makuhita. The bastard was _laughing_! Folds of fat rippling, crawl-on-your- stomach laughing!

Ven gnashed his teeth together and once again gnawed on the cage bars furiously, willing them to fail. And, to his great surprise, he heard and audible 'crack' as one of the spindly legs of metal cracked the entire way through, creating a rather large gap between the others. Ven grunted as he noticed it was still much too small (three or four bars worth too small), but was slightly heartened at his progress. This small bout of hope however, was promptly crushed as the cage once again shook bad and forth as its carrier had apparently recovered and decided to get the hell out of there.

Ven howled in protest once more (Once again ignored by his captor), then jumped as he felt the very earth move. Seconds later, there was a sickening 'Crunch' as metal ripped through metal like tinfoil.

Ven shivered, thinking of the massive Metagross. Demolition had begun, then.

- - -

Narc panted, once again slamming into a plated door. Once again, he felt the hinges buckle, and once again, he sped into the room, wondering exactly what he'd find here. Currently, the only boons of his frantic, rather unsystematic search were the knowledge that the rockets were completely and utterly insane. He had seen just about everything in the rooms, even rooms that technically shouldn't fit in there. Hell, he had seen a Boiler room radiating heat right next to the Cold Storage, for crying out loud.

He looked around disappointed, seeing only a small, black-painted room. Then, promptly jumped half-way to the ceiling when he saw his fur was…_scaly. _He froze, turning around slowly… and saw, attached to the end of his spine, a long reptilian tail with a small fire at the end. Then, calmly, he turned to the door, and walked out of it.

He sighed in relief, as he looked at his familiar indigo and tawny furred body, stretching out his fire quills just to make sure they were still back. He rolled his shoulders a little; preparing to sprint once again, as he suddenly felt a sharp needle in his mind. Another moment and the annoying Kadabra that kept following him appeared once again, looking at him with a peeved expression and tapping her feet.

"What?" He asked, slightly peeved he was being reprimanded after all his work.

'_If you waited and actually followed my instructions, you could have been done by now. We've found the executive, its only a matter of taking him down, without him alerting the Metagross of our presence.'_

"…Oh. And he is…"

'_In that room, right there' _She gestured to a door that had certainly not been there before. Narc blinked, and then backpedaled slightly, noticing they were now in a completely different hallway.

"Did you just…" He began, then shook his head. "What do you want me to do?"

'_I shall attempt to draw him out. The Metagross will interoperate any change in his health as a possible ambush, therefore he must be brought out with utmost delicacy._

_However, afterwards it shall be up to you to quickly incapacitate him. We do NOT need to be battling the Gro-Gross, while there are still innocent Pokemon locked within cages.'._

Narc blinked attempting to digest the information.

"It's called…WHAT?"

'_The Gro-Gross, I know, horrible name. However, it is no laughing matter; an ordinary sized Metagross can plough through the foundations of a small skyscraper and crawl from the wreckage unscathed. The limits of the Gro-Gross have actually been untested as of yet, although they are expected to be stratospheric. The only downside to a Metagross of its size, is that the magnetic waves within its head have much farther to travel in order to carry their information. Therefore, the Metagross is rather… stupid.'_

Narc nodded tentatively, vaguely wondering exactly how large a 'normal' sized Metagross was. Still, it hardly mattered. He got the idea.

He blinked as Tiris suddenly disappeared with a slightly pop, her form dilating for a second. Narc had a second to wonder why she suddenly vanished, before he heard a rather humanoid gasp from behind him as he saw a well-dressed, short-haired man take a look at him from around his door. There was a couple seconds pause, before there was a long metallic whine, followed by a massive crash.

Narc flinched, half expecting to be skewered by splinters rising up from the massive behemoth's forceful removal of a different room in the house.

"Well, so much for subtle." he muttered, before dashing off into the room. He called out in pain in shock as he felt long claws dig into his shoulder, knocking him off balance long enough for a swift strike to the head, stomach and groin, causing him to collapse backwards, barely conscious of his attacker's smug grin.

"Wanna dance?" she said with a laugh, fixing the patch of fur near her ear, a strange red fan of feathers stretching horizontally across her head adorning her biped, slightly feline figure. She had two wicked claws per paw, looking very similar to what one would expect from a predator.

After groaning for a few moments at the unexpected strike, Narc got to his feet, shakily.

"Sure love, just give me a moment to get my balance…" he said, his voice cracking every so often with what he hoped sounded like weariness and fear.

The Weavile gave a triumphant grin, as she once again dashed forward at the Quilava… who, before her very eyes, disappeared in thin air, and struck her from behind.

Quickly reasserting herself, the dark huntress looked at him with a mixture of hate and laughter.

"I was joking about that, you know. You could just leave now, and I wouldn't have to castrate you."

Narc's stomach groaned slightly at that threat.

"After all, I'd feel sorry having to kill you… or sterilize you. Of course, in your case…maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing."

After that, Narc's stomach just went taunt.

She did not just…

The quadruped's eyes suddenly shot through of blood as they observed the offender. SHE DID NOT, just say that. He had been captured, kicked around, whipped, fed gruel for days, only managed to escape with a complete jackass and his prick of a Kadabra, rained on by a Dragonair (Maybe Milotic, he wasn't sure), then after only given about a day of rest, forced to battle a bitch of an Arcanine and infiltrate an organization of COMPLETE douchebags. And, NOW, he was having his sterility insulted?

The Quilava panted as he felt the extreme heat build up in the base of his throat, causing his quills to flare out to nearly four times their normal size.

This was going to feel good.


	9. Of Heavy Metal

**Act 1 – Prologue**

**Chapter 9**

**-**

**---**

**-**

The unfortunate Weavile was shocked out of her fit of minor chuckles (A habit she was prone to, even with its strategic disadvantages), by being barreled into the chest with a force she found comparable to a burning log slamming into your chest at a hundred and fifty miles per hour. Thrown backwards into a rather dense ligament (The owner of which, being a massive Metagross, either didn't notice, or didn't care), she gasped before fainting almost instantaneously from the intense heat assaulting her unaccustomed system at ungodly temperatures. She slumped over onto her stomach, eyes closed and completely unaware of her surroundings, much to the disappointment of her assaulter.

Narc glared at the Weavile, his quills a blazing furnace that was causing even himself to pant slightly. Still, he was mad… and not satisfied. His eyes locked onto the metallic colossus before him, enraged green irises meeting the glazed, colorless orbs of the creature.

The impending beast however, appeared to have the same idea as it slammed one of its four mighty limbs into the ground, causing the tiles beneath them to explode into shrapnel, and exposing the rocky earth beneath. Narc dodged nimbly to the side, several pieces of plaster instantly vaporized by the incredible temperatures he was emitting. The Metagross gave a loud, long whine, obviously uncomfortable with the temperature of the room, as its metallic body expanded and jammed due to the humidity.

Narc scowled, then turned… and grinned at the beast.

Then, with a small blink of the eye, he promptly disappeared.

The Metagross, mind rather slow at the best of times, kept on staring at the same spot the Quilava had disappeared from, not quite realizing its quarry had disappeared. Then, suddenly, it felt a massive burning pain in one of its back legs, and began to shake it wildly. What was happening now?

Narc gave a small grin as he held on for dear life, small claws imbedded in steel that bended with little resistance to his claws at the current heat. Then, slowly and surely, he made his way up the colossal, purposely twisting and contorting handholds in the steel to be the most painful possible

The Metagross, having caught on something was dearly, dearly wrong now, began flailing about wildly, knocking pillar-like limbs into the ground and smashing the floor completely.

Narc simply grinned (with a hint of sadism and insanity in his eyes), as he continued his trek regardless. He chuckled a little at the stupidity of the Metagross, who obviously couldn't figure out which limb he was actually climbing, as it made a big deal of shaking a completely different ligament, obviously expecting to see him upon it.

Then, without fanfare or indication, Narc increased his internal heat five-fold, encompassing his entire body in a swath of white hot-fire, and then struck his entire body in the smooth form of the Metagross.

Narc chuckled with sick satisfaction, hearing the groaning as the metal bent to his touch, quickly creating a tunnel within the metal behemoth. He heard its cries and screams of pain, and the cracking of the entire laboratory beneath them, but hardly cared. He kept tunneling, flaring up his heat even more in response to the more sturdy and dense metals making up the core of the metal Pokemon's body, even as it flailed about so wildly, he would have been crushed against the walls of his tiny tunnel if his paws weren't literally melted to the body.

Eventually, the Quilava managed to melt his way to a thick, slightly vibrating silver plate. A small, sane piece of his mind reasoned this had to be the 'skull' of the entire thing, while the new sadist part reasoned it only needed to get past this to completely fuck up the big guy himself.

The fire type quickly increased his body heat even more, completely ignoring the danger of forcing an entire tunnel of several ton metals to melt around him, with absolutely no effect on the metal plate. Finally calling out in frustration, Narc simply lashed out with a short claw, causing a long, bell-like toll to ring out, while the Metagross let out one more, earth-shattering yell, followed by what could only be described as a giant steel-type's version of a sob.

A small smile slowly crept up onto Narc's face, as a very cruel, yet effective idea entered his mind.

- - -

Ven stared in shock at the shattered remains of what had once been his cage, before looking between the Makuhita (who looked equally stunned), and the rampaging blue steel limb that had freed him. His mind could barely recall the incident, although he understood it well enough… out of nowhere, the beast had cried out in pain, then slammed one of its pillar-like limbs into the ground, missing him and his captor by a hair's breadth… But, at the same time, letting the shockwave rip the individual bars out of the cage, and tear it apart. Now, free and rather dazed, Ven looked around with an expression akin to, 'What now?'

The Makuhita recovered first, aiming several dangerous looking strikes at the smaller mammal. Getting hit by a single one was enough of a shock to the system for Ven to get the point, as he carefully avoided each of the other blows, before leaping back into one of the hallways. He winced slightly as he saw a wicked bruise begin to develop near his shoulder, where the hard fist had made contact with his body, but quickly returned his attentions to his opponent, who he could finally meet on equal footing.

Taking the offensive, Ven paused for a moment before moving his jaws perhaps half an inch apart, letting energy he accumulated enter his muzzle. Then, with little warning, he shot the developed shadowball from his maw, causing his enemy to cross his arms to dispel the attack, like any satisfactory distraction should. Moving with startling swiftness, Ven made his way to the back of his opponent (Which, he noted, was equally as unappealing as the front), his paws and fangs glowing with a strange golden energy. The Makuhita breathed in a little as his claws and fangs ripped into the plump flesh, but then laughed.

"You had a clean shot and that was your best attack?" It chuckled, before jabbing outwards again. Ven calmly waited for the strike as it came near, and then quickly jumped upon the broad fist of his enemy, claws and fangs once again glowing with golden energy, as he brutally attacked the Fighting type's face.

Makuhita stumbled back slightly, grimacing as he felt the claw marks on his face, but then promptly sneered at his opponent.

"Still no good. Try again if it makes you feel any-"

The burly fighting type suddenly stopped as it noticed the entire albino's body glow brightly for a second, before it stopped, looking rather smug. "Yes? I was looking forward to you finishing that taunt. Don't stop on my behalf." Ven said, the smug grin still on his face.

"…Er, yah. So, take your best shot, not like it will-"

The obese Pokemon's lungs suddenly crumbled as he was forcibly attacked in the chest again, making him stumble back as the Eevee retreated once more, claws and fangs no longer glowing golden. The Makuhita growled in frustration at the insolent creature, which seemed intent on attacking him even if it didn't do anything… Still, he noted with some enthusiasm, the Eevee was tiring much quicker than he was. Whatever strange attack it appeared to be using, wasn't doing enough damage for the energy it consumed… which was good for him.

The Makuhita grinned as it suddenly leaped forward, grabbing the creature by its ears and pulling it close, as it quickly subjected it to the barrage of short-range punches that was Close Combat, grinning as it felt its rock-hard fists dig into the soft fur and flesh of his foe. When he decided the unlucky Eevee had been bloodied up enough, he dropped it, before preparing a force palm to finish the job.

What the assailant obviously hadn't been expecting, however, was for his quarry, though weakened and rather beaten-up from his latest attack, to leap at him with fangs and claws glowing a brilliant gold once more, landing three key blows unto his chest. The Makuhita stumbled back from the force of the techniques, this time actually feeling them under his massive walls of fat, force palm forgotten in the midst of the pain. The fighting type, now feeling particularly vicious towards this piece of filth, began preparing his Cross Chop technique to execute his completely exhausted, broken opponent… before he paused, once again wondering what was happening.

What appeared to be a star of glowing energy, descending from the sky above, fell down from the sky and melded into the Eevee's body, causing him to glow with an eerie radiance. When it finally died down, the rocket's jaw dropped as he saw nearly every wound he had inflicted close up, and disappear within the mammal's body until every trace of its existence disappeared.

"Wish.", Ven said after a moment, getting back up onto his feet. "It's a useful technique. I have to thank my good genes for it, however… Not many Eevee you'll actually find with the ability to use it in their DNA."

Makuhita paused for a moment, before returning to an aggressive boxer's stance, growling slightly… perhaps a second too late, as Ven once again quickly wove his way around the larger Pokemon, jumping up onto his back, and tipping him to the floor. The Makuhita growled as he saw the Eevee had retreated slightly, his claws and fangs once again glowing with brilliant radiance.

"That technique again? If it didn't work the last four times, why would it work-…?" The fighting type's words trailed out as the attack's true form took shape, a massive orb of golden light rapidly erupting from the Eevee's main body, and taking upon a shape of its own. The burly Pokemon only had time to admire the heavenly sphere before it made contact with his head, crushing him into unconsciousness as his entire body burned like white-hot needles were shoved repeatedly into every fiber of his body, enflaming it and searing it with its intense heat. The Makuhita gave one last grunt, before he fell into eternal darkness.

"Trump Card." Said Eevee murmured, before momentarily collapsing in exhaustion onto the shattered ground below.

Ven studied the bloody mass that was the rest of the Makuhita, head forcibly shoved into the solid rock beneath the floor. He spat, a sour taste in his mouth… It was likely the fighting type was dead, or would be soon. Even if he wasn't, Ven had no doubt there was major spinal damage, judging from the loud snap he heard and the awkward angle of the body…

Oh well. He deserved it… right?

Glancing back once more at the fighting type and the metallic beast (still wailing in pain), Ven briefly wondered exactly where Orin had gotten to.

He hastily exited the building.

- - -

Tiris calmly made her way through the now-empty hallways, scanning the perimeter for a particular brain signature. Evacuating the building had been easier than previously thought, with the aid of a decently powerful psychic such as her. All the cages containing particularly volatile and dangerous Pokemon had been teleported a decent distance away; the other holding cages, where the occupants were slightly saner, had been systematically opened with psychic power. The rest of the Pokemon in the several lab rooms had been alerted by –once again- telepathic message, and though she found a single room filled with Pokemon engaging in activities they would apparently not interrupt to leave, they had all also been evacuated.

All but two Pokemon, she noted, had been accounted for, and Sean had a strange curiosity, fondness or general liking for said two. They were, of course, the Eevee and Quilava they had sent in, in the first place. The Jolteon had appeared for roll call, and then promptly disappeared, taking with him one of the captured Vaporeon. Luckily, only moments ago she detected the Eevee, quickly making his way outside the building. So now, it was only the Quilava that remained rogue. Tiris was not particularly surprised.

What she was surprised to find, however, were the massive, panic-stricken magnetic brain-waves she detected from the Gro-Gross, far in the center of the facility, blotting out everything else like a siren's wail would to one's hearing. Obviously intrigued what could possibly cause the disturbance to a creature so large and stable, she quickly made her way to the core, using teleportation to skip walls whenever necessary.

The first thing she noticed was a large, grotesque red blot in a crater within the shredded flooring. Identifying the scraps of flesh and fabric, she quickly realized (with some revulsion, yet barely masked curiosity) it was nothing less than the bloody remains of the Metagross' former master. A fitting death, she decided, at the feet of the very creature that you thought made you invincible.

Tiris paused for a moment, mentally calculating within her expansive mind. The only reason the Gro-Gross would attack its master, would be if it were in an extreme panic. It would only be in an extreme panic if it felt its life was in danger. So, what could possibly make it feel like its life in danger?

Attempting to ignore the flailing and blaring meteor Pokemon behind her (Quickly teleporting whenever a limb came too close to her own body), she studied the remains of the room. Interestingly enough, in one corner was the unconscious body of a Weavile, boasting several impressive burns upon her body. The Kadabra frowned once again, disliking where the math was leading her. A Weavile with dangerous burns… a Metagross rampaging for its life, and- she sniffed the air- the pungent scent of burned ozone. There was only one possible explanation.

Quickly assaulting the Metagross' physical body with Alpha rays, she quickly detected the Quilava's brain waves, like she expected. However, she noted with some surprise, she found the Quilava's brainwaves not AROUND the Metagross, assaulting the beast's shell from the outside, but WITHIN, being found only outside the cranial cavity.

She felt her heart skip a beat, when she noticed the hole burned into the side of the Gro-Gross's head, which was obviously causing it much pain, as she realized what the Quilava must have done.

She gulped slightly, realizing the heat it would have taken to melt a perfect hole through the beast's minerals would require temperatures comparable to molten lava. It was not unheard of for Typhlosion to reach temperatures of an upwards towards there, but a Quilava? The only possible explanation, she deduced, was that this Quilava must have had extensive training under extreme conditions, to burn so powerfully without risking permanent damage to himself. Extreme conditions and hours and hours of practice, with little rest… and of course, superior genetics.

Still, although she respected the effort it would take to reach a temperature that high, she knew his approach was the utmost in stupidity. Were he to –unlikely- break through the cranial plate, she knew he would immediately be killed by the massive magnetic pressure contained within it. Even if he survived that, the chances of his mind being unaltered by the massive magnetic waves were slim to none… In other words, the Quilava had initiated what was essentially a suicide strike.

She swallowed, knowing there was nothing she could do. She was not heatproof, and could not reach the Quilava physically. It was too small a space to teleport into, and the Metagross' telepathic noise was too loud to allow her to reach him.

And then, like she knew would happen, the great behemoth gave a massive wail as its four limbs lost their will to stay upwards, and it tipped over to the side, completely dead. It's eyes were a lifeless steely blue, and Tiris couldn't help feeling the smallest bit of pity for it… The Gro-Gross had been her room-mate for years, though she was asleep while it was still a normal Metang.

Let it find peace in death, she decided. And may the Quilava also find himself at rest, with all of his past ancestors. She turned to leave, the air particles still unstable from the sheer amount of psychic waves passed through them recently, then suddenly stopped as she heard a rustling behind her.

Turning around, she watched with interest as she saw a patch on the metallic corpse of the gro-gross rapidly increase in temperature, before minutes later, it caved in upon itself. Shakily, she saw a small black creature make its way out, looking shriveled and burning. Her first instincts were to shy away from the dying creature… before she realized it was nothing other than the Quilava, covered in soot, but perfectly alive.

"Never...doing…that…again…"

She heard it pant, coughing up more ash. She walked somewhat near him, before moving away once more from the sheer heat that still radiated from his fur, though his back flame itself was back to a reasonable size.

She saw the Quilava collapse upon the floor, before it turned around and looked at her with a cheeky smile.

"Told ya I could do it. Now, just need to have another –yawn- little nap…" He said, settling into sleep for the second time that day. Tiris smiled, gently lifting him up with psychic powers and preparing to teleport. Perhaps this Quilava wasn't quite as stupid as she thought… She would have to question him later on how he possibly survived, but for now…

She grinned for the first time in what felt like years, before walking down the hall, Quilava levitating next to her. She gradually felt the disturbed air particles get less and less, until she finally found herself able to teleport once again.

…For now, she'd celebrate a job well done.


	10. Of Insanity

**Chapter 10**

**-**

**---**

**-**

Narc called out in surprise and fury, as he found himself pinned to the ground on his side by some invisible force. He futilely began extending his tongue and neck as much as he possible could, in an attempt to reach the cool, refreshing stream only tantalizing steps away, teasing him with its proximity.

"So."

He heard his obvious capture say, as she regarded him. He bristled slightly at being denied his drink, although he noted with some actual interest the psychic was actually speaking with her mouth now. He grinned slightly; the high-pitched squeak she used to speak with was much less intimidating than the echo-y, imposing mental speak.

"How did you kill the Metagross?"

She asked, hovering near him (not literally, thankfully), staring him directly in the eyes with her icy blue ones. He noticed she had one hand, in perhaps what was a comfortable position against her waist, while the other one dangled by her side, twitching slightly. Narc blinked a couple times at the strange posture, before doing something the psychic found immensely odd.

He began laughing. Not a slight chuckle, like he was prone to doing, but a hyena-like laughing fit, during which Tiris was forced to slacken her hold on him to make sure his lungs didn't collapse upon themselves. Narc noticed the fit seemed slightly modeled after an Electrike he has observed, what felt like years ago… but at this point, he hardly cared.

Tiris cocked her head slightly, as if to better examine the smaller mammal.

"What is so funny?" She asked after a moment, once again beginning to wonder if the magnetic brain waves of the Metagross did indeed affect him and addle his mind.

"Y-You" He finally, managed to choke out, tears actually beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. Truthfully, the scene wasn't quite as funny as he was reacting to, but he suppose he deserved to have an emotional breakdown of some sort. And a laughing fit was slightly better than a crying fit… although not quite as fun as an angry rampage.

He made a mental note to have an angry rampage soon.

Tiris frowned, disliking being laughed at… and even more puzzled as to why she was being laughed at. Insanity was still a high contender for the reason of the Quilava's sudden fit.

Narc soon calmed down, his ribs beginning to hurt slightly as his raw back scraped against the dirt under the grass. He twitched uncomfortably, his back still feeling incredibly sensitive from his major combustion yesterday, but eventually settled himself down into a somewhat comfortable position.

"How did you kill the Metagross?" She repeated.

Narc smirked a little, noticing a strange sort of accent attached to her normal speak, but resisted the urge to laugh again.

"I built up a lot of heat, cut a tunnel through his head, then killed it. Is that good enough for you?"

Tiris frowned. Apparently it wasn't.

"How'd you kill it from within the tunnel?"

Narc rolled his eyes at the apparent triviality.

"I used Eruption. I was angry, my best heat didn't seem to do anything to the inner core shield…thing…, so I decided to hell with it, and blew it all up."

Tiris blinked again, eyes slightly wider.

"How'd you reach such a high degree of heat?"

Narc raised an eyebrow. "I was angry. It wasn't really anything special, the metal he was made of was rather soft… we used to try and melt boulders, back in my clan, the others always cheated though so it always looked like I was bad at it…"

Tiris nodded for a moment, before flicking a hand and summoning a notebook and pen out of thin air. She write a couple notes, before sitting cross-legged on the ground. Narc noticed, for the first time, her feet; which looked somewhat taloned, like a bird's foot, but still had the knee joint facing forward. He tried to hold back a giggle as images of what she could possibly need talons for sprang into his mind, and put on his best sober face.

"You say becoming that hot is common, where you are from?"

Narc grinned for a moment.

"Well, hotness like mine isn't exactly common-"

Tiris gave him a blank look.

"Err, but yah, most of us can reach that level of heat. Can I go now?"

Tiris sighed and stood up again.

"Fine, it doesn't look like you'll be much help in any case." She muttered, before letting up her telepathic grip from the fire type, who blinked gratefully at her.

"Thanks. Don't do that again." He said, although still in a relatively good mood. He'd even let her get away without a scorching, this time, he thought as he stretched out his spine (which had been pressed into a rather awkward position due to the psychic mistreatment), before he sauntered over to the lake to take his long-deserved drink of water. He sighed with contentment as the cool liquid soothed his inflamed throat, the fire on his back crackling happily to match his mood.

"Bit of a bitch that one, eh mate?"

Narc paused, then reluctantly looked upward to see what ignoramus of a creature decided to have a chat with him now. He wasn't completely surprised to see that a large, bipedal dragon-like creature with massive, bulbous red eyes was the culprit this time as it stared at him with a giddy expression on his face.

"What did you call me?" The Quilava asked, exasperated.

"Mate. Term of endearment it is." The strange insectoid-dragon thing said, placing its claws on its hips while doing so. Narc began to wonder if that was a habit among bipedal creatures.

"Look buddy, sorry to burst your bubble but I'm not interested in other males-"

"Not in that way, mate. I mean it in a purely platonic way, if you know what I'm meaning- I've still yet ta' find that special dragoness out there."

Narc sighed.

"Not really, but fine. Who the hell are you again?"

The Flygon puffed up his chest (which was rather unimpressive for a dragon, from what Narc had seen), and tapped it a couple times with a claw for no apparent reason.

"Name's Ezekiel, though you can call me Zeke. Everyone does." The dragon gave a smirk and winked for no apparent reason. Narc rolled his eyes.

"And I'm in the business of shinies, nothing more, and nothing less." He finished triumphantly, looking expectantly to Narc, who rolled his eyes again.

"And what are 'Shinies'?"

"I'm glad you asked!"

The dragon flapped his wings a couple times, apparently in joy of a sort, scattering some of the loose foliage and dir around in an erratic pattern. Narc sighed once more, quickly tiring of the dragon's company and wondering if he'd get hurt for launching a fireball in his face.

"Shinies are all those valuable sparklies humans like, like gold, silver and the like, and stones like Rubies and Emeralds, stuff like that. Any kind'll do, if I can get my claws on them."

He flexed one of his (rather impressive, Narc had to admit) claws for emphasis.

"But Silver's what I'm after. I love the look of it, all hypnotic and glistening like that… Ma' mates have had to drag me away from mirrors, even. My only regret is I can only carry so much…"

The dragon gave another wink, before he displayed the shoulder ring and tailring that Narc had previously missed, both made of highly polished silver. He noticed a similar collar around his neck, which he noticed the flygon was cradling proudly.

"Uh hunh." Narc said, words carrying his apparent boredom. "Well, if that's all…"

He turned to leave, wondering vaguely if there were any worthwhile females around (while at the same time chuckling to himself, was there ever a non-worthwhile female?), only to be once again blocked by the strange sand-dragon. He grunted indignantly at the green creature, his back flame beginning to spark angrily.

"Alright, now what do you want?"

Zeke's spirits weren't dampened, as he patted Narc lightly on the head.

"Nothing really mate, just wanted to talk to you for a bit. So you say you took on that big' un of a Metagross back there?"

Narc rolled his eyes again, wondering what the big deal was about taking down the stupid Metagross.

"Yes, now please go-" He blinked in surprise upon seeing a rippling hole of shadows beside him, looking as if a hole in space-time itself. He took a couple steps back, slightly curious why the strange dragon wasn't doing the same.

Instead, Zeke seemed (if it were possible), even more cheery at the arrival of the strange rip, walking up and talking to it much faster than the Quilava could follow. He only began to understand when the strange portal thinned and changed, warping itself into a small humanoid form, with sharp claws and eyes glowing like precious gems.

"So Baou, what's up?" Zeke concluded finally, addressing the new arrival. The ghostly form simply looked up at the dragon, giving him a blank look. Narc raised an eyebrow, slowly identifying the newcomer as a Sableye –he had seen a couple in his time- Albeit there was something strange about this one…

"Hey, Narc mate! This is my other buddy, Baou!" Zeke proudly said, placing thin draconian arm around the ghost Pokemon's shoulders. The strange creature opened its mouth, and Narc thought for a moment it was going to bite the overzealous dragon- and was promptly disappointed when it simply drooled, a line of saliva dropping from a couple of its (rather sizable for a ghost type, he noticed)'s incisors.

Judging from this show of utter uselessness, the relatively dim light of the eyes, the slouching posture and general "feel", Narc quickly deduced this newcomer was none too smart.

"Baou here's the second member of our shiny hunting party!" Zeke declared proudly, clasping the (still drooling) Sableye on his gemmed back. "And what's more, he has no interest in silver, so it's all mine! He just wants the precious gems… I think to eat, though I can't be sure…"

The Sableye heaved a couple times, in what could possibly be interoperated as laughter.

Narc sighed again, and rolled her eyes. "Can I go now?"

"Wait! Wait!" The Flygon waved his arms around, before pointing to a dark shape perched on a hill. "That's Hiromi, our third member. She doesn't like to be disturbed though, so I wouldn't recommend it."

"That's great, now would you let me-"

"And that's Ocean!" He added, completely ignoring the fire type (to his great chagrin), pointing to a small Pikachu, who was mingling along with the police among the cages of rescued Pokemon. Narc raised an eyebrow at this one, admiring her physique, but immediately snapped himself out of it. No more Pikachus… not after last time… Well, then again, what could be the harm?

He shuddered slightly, before he noticed Zeke had broken in his monologue. Taking advantage of the break, Narc sped off as fast as he could, trying to put as much distance between himself and the weird Dragon type.

_Freedom! _He yelled mentally, as he dashed towards the stock of cages, and, hopefully, the females.

- - -

Baou watched the fire type take off, a miraculous transformation taking over his features. No longer open mouthed or slouched, the Sableye stood with dignity and class, his eyes glowing beacons that radiated decades of intelligence.

"Not a very patient one, is he?" The Sableye said, his voice raspy yet clear.

Zeke chuckled, letting the escaping Quilava exit without a fight.

"Nor smart, from the looks of it. No matter, look who's coming." He said, pointing with a claw to a pair of Mawaile in the distance. While they looked like normal members of the species to casual onlookers, both the Flygon and Sableye noticed the tell-tale signs of each… The patch torn in the Female's back-maw, her lack of a metallic scent and apparent trail of flower petals. And, of course, the steely grey eyes of the male, which betrayed no emotion, along with the stern, almost mechanical walk he employed. The only hint of emotion in his visage was a small twist of irritation that had crept onto his mouth, showing apparent disapproval of his partner's frolicking and immature behavior.

Baou nodded, instantly recognizing the pair also.  
"Should we tell Hiromi and Ocean?"

Zeke appeared to think for a moment. "Best tell Ocean, I believe she's beginning to get a bit too distracted by that Raichu… we can leave Hiromi though, you know how she is around Nagimi… Besides, Jet'll probably tell her anything necessary later".

Baou nodded his strange bejeweled head. "Wise enough. How is it you still lack a mate, again? I was under the impression Dragons were rather impulsive, when it came to matters like that."

The flygon just chuckled. "Well, it can't be my personality, can it?"

- - -

Ray slumped unhappily in his cage, incredibly irritated from all the human activity near him. The female Pikachu that had been sitting near his cage had provided something different to look at for a while, but she had recently left, leaving him all alone again. The Raichu gritted his teeth, tail lashing against the floor harshly. When was one of these damn humans going to let him out?

He spat. Humans, what filth. They were all the same, from what he saw. If he weren't locked up in this cage, he'd probably kill all of them. They deserved it after all… leaving him in this dank, dark cage.

Ray was torn from his brooding when he heard a strange clicking sound coming from one end of the cage. Ears pricked up in curiosity, he turned to see if one of the humans had finally decided to release him., before looking into the face of a quilava, which was fiddling with the key and the lock. Ray rolled his eyes, his views on humans apparently having been proved on some divine scale, and sat on his haunches while he waited for the fire type to finish brining him his freedom.

"Don't worry love, I'll have you out in a moment. Stupid human lock…"

Ray blinked. What had the Quilava just called him?

"I'm sure you'll be able to repay me for this, somehow…"

The creature gave a sly look, and Ray felt a small flame of anger flare up in his breast. Was this guy… hitting on him?

"After all, I'm sure you're a great catch… I wouldn't mind getting to know a female like you."

The lock clicked open with a resounding snap.

As, at the exact same time, did Ray's fragments of self control.

The Raichu leapt from the cage, punching at the unfortunate male's gut. Taken by surprise and still standing on his hind legs from opening the door, Narc was completely unprepared for the hormone-enhanced punch, knocking him to the ground. Ray followed up with a kick to the back of the downed male, before he stepped up for a finishing blow, fully intending to crush the Quilava's rib cage, however simply slammed painfully into the ground as his opponent rolled to the side, and leapt upwards.

"A feisty one, eh?" Narc said, his voice not loosing a note of humor.

"I can live with that."

Quickly dividing into three, Narc launched himself at Ray, picking up velocity quickly. As he approached the rodent, who had entered a defensive stance, he quickly disappeared, reappearing behind the electrical Pokemon and slamming into him with two paw's worth of semi-dangerous claws.

The raichu roared with anger, and lashed out with his tail, slamming directly into Narc's side and causing his two clones to immediately dissipate. The Quilava quickly recovered and retaliated, launching a barrage of three fireballs. Ray grunted, shoving his fist out and dispelling each of them with another carefully devised blow, before he was slammed into yet again, from behind. The Raichu glared at him, pure anger radiating from his eyes.

"I hate you so much." The Raichu said, putting as much venom as he could into each of those words.

"Why so hatefully love? No need to bite my head off for being attracted to a pretty thing like you." The Quilava said logically, a hint of cockiness entering his voice.

Ray grunted, barely even noticing the three white darts that had been shot at him by different humans.

"I'm not a damn female!" He yelled, attempting to grab the Quilava's throat, but only succeeding in wobbling slightly on his four paws, before falling to the ground.

The last thing he saw before blacking out was the face of a genuinely surprised Quilava's mouthed pressed into an "O" shape.


	11. Unrecoverable Application Error

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 1**

The ghost surveyed his prey, silent and still as death itself among the lush leaves that surrounded him. The potted plant he had selected was not particularly impressive; it was naught but a common breed of tree, brought in until it could grow to adolescence without the presence of winter's icy chill. He desperately wanted to end the life of which concealed him, but suppressed the deep-seated urge. He would not be discovered; he could not be discovered.

His prey was, to him, an incredibly unimpressive sight. A feeble human, hanging to life only on the thread of a few more years; the hair that had once crowned his entire head had retreated, leaving only a bleached fringe near the back. The eyes, which had once been an exuberant and bright sea blue, where now glazed over and dead-looking as their host's sight decayed. He was adorned in nothing but the most expensive garments, trimmed with what was most likely real gold and adorned with precious crystal, though the silk itself was dyed an unimpressive uniform brown and grey. He was the very picture of human inadequacy- feeble, outdated and outclassed, yet still determined to leach the last moments of his slowly dying rule from others.

Sometimes, Ryull just loved humans. He knew nothing he could possibly ever do, no crime he could possibly commit, could come to par with the stubborn disregard for the wellbeing of other humans displayed. Even now, the human attempted to disregard the slow, yet sure approach of death by immersing himself in work he would undoubtedly never see completed, and with every stroke, Ryull's invisible yet gargantuan grin grew.

This weakling, the batting of an eye… Ryull himself was no less then two-thousand years the creature's senior, and as healthy as the day he were spawned. Healthier, even- the amount of pain and suffering he fed on in the world had grown exponentionally the last two millenniums. And yet, here he was; the predator in this game of cat and mouse… and barely that, even, for the mouse in this case was blind, deaf and lame. Still, Ryull was determined to get what he needed from the creature; he, after all, did have a job to do. 

Moving like a living shadow, Ryull's form changed to fuse within that of the nearby door's, atoms mingling. Soon enough, he found himself take complete command of the oak-and-mahogany hybrid piece of carpentry, forcing the complex mechanical lock to activate, metal pistons falling into perfect position. Then, finally, he released a massive burst of heat to the core of the contraption, causing the metallic innards to mould and form together, never again capable of breaking apart from eachother without specific outside help. A key would do them no good, in this instance.

The phantom disengaged the door, once more taking on the form of an unnoticeable shadow, slithering through the small office space. Its next target was a small circuit located underneath the desk the man himself was writing at, and he quickly infiltrated its fibers, his essence mingling with the atoms of the desks. He discovered the circuit he was looking for; a small, white button that when pressed, would alert not only the authorities but any others in the rather tall building of his presence. Carefully selecting the wires to cut in order to prevent the OTHER alarm that would sound if the first one was disengaged, he chuckled quietly to himself that the necessary ones were all blue. 

Cut the blue wire indeed…

Finishing with his task quickly, the phantom made a split second decision and re-connected the wires to their power source, leaving the alarm out of the equation. By his calculations, the wires would take at least forty minutes before they heated up enough from the short circuit to light the rest of the desk on fire… with the luck that Ryull had come to expect, he knew the destruction of the rather large wooden construct and all its secret cargo would be seen as a complete accident, despite the questionable circumstances. Were he to, say, ignite the desk on his own, the marks of the impact would still be plainly visible… but to the humans, an electronic error would be a perfectly reasonable explanation. 

The ghost cackled to himself, his preparations nearly finished. He surveyed the rather large room, from the collection of precious stones at the back, to the expensive furniture making up its midsection (complete with two chiseled sententials, flanking them on either side with their stoic expressions, literally of granite), to the massive desk he was currently part of at the front. He noticed, with some enthusiasm, the massive wall of window that made up the fourth wall of the room, currently covered by curtains as a devious idea entered his minds… but then frowned as he took a look, once again, at the sentential statues to either side of the centerpiece furniture.

The four combined eyes of the human figures were all unnaturally shiny… an oddity, and artistic faux-pas in pieces of art such as these. There was no possibility the weak human had an incredibly bad taste in art, the remainder of the room serving as a testament to that. There was only one possible solution, which Ryull chided himself, he really should have noticed earlier.

As he detached from the table, stretching over to posses the first of the statues, he grinned inwardly as his theory was quickly proved right by the innards of both stone guards. For apparently, Sentential was not just their title; both of the irises in each were a separate security tape, trained on a different segment of the room. He noticed the one observing the desk was angled so the paperwork on it was not visible, which, Ryull chuckled to himself, was undoubtedly human paranoia of one of the security tapes containing an important and secret document on tape. Or, possibly, containing proof of misdeeds done against other corporations… for, while Ryull did not know for a fact, he knew from experience no human corporation could become successful without massive amounts of backstabbing and treachery, though some of it sanctioned by flawed human laws.

He also noticed, with significant humor, that in this one they were all blue wires.

Cut the blue wire indeed…

He sighed as he quickly cut the live feed from each camera, replacing it with a loop of the last fifteen minutes, in which the old man had done naught but the same repetitive gestures again and again. He even modified the times listed, using the technological expertise he had obtained since the invention of the human computer, making the loop nearly impossible to differentiate from normal feed. And of course, the humans had made their job difficult on themselves by providing a horrible vantage point to the human himself, the only object in the room making any sort of movement. 

Once again, the phantom looked casually about the room again, looking for anything he could have possibly missed. Then, with a small bout of realization, he pinpointed the last potential difficulty; the phone, perched observantly at the dying human's side, as if waiting for the chance to ring with the offers of 'free' tropical vacations and 20 off deals of satellite television. He did not even bother possessing this appliance, but simply summoned a charge of electricity within the object itself, turning the interior wires into a solid square of melted plastic.

Now, he grinned to himself, was the fun part.

With a simple command, all the lights within the room suddenly shattered, showing the carpet with glass shrapnel. The man ceased his writing abruptly, looking around wildly for the cause of the disturbance but finding naught. Once again, the ghost grinned to himself about human stupidity and thanked whatever God, be it Arceus, Giratina or some unknown, decided to give his species the ability to meld in with inanimate objects.

Still, he thought to himself, it was unfair to let the pathetic moral suffer from the anxiety of battling an unseen enemy. Why, he at least deserved the privilege of seeing his savoir, he thought to himself. And so, slowly and deliberately, the phantom returned to his form as a shadow on the carpet, before rising up to reveal his true form.

The man's dullened eyes shined with pure terror as the satanic creature rose from the floor, vicious dark purple spikes originating from his head and back. It had four limbs, like a human, but much smaller and shorter, like a child's. The neck was nonexistent, the chubby torso and head forming into eachother like a rounded cylinder. But worse of all was the face, devoid of all features but eyes and a mouth;

Two bloodied eyes, glowing with insanity and eons of knowledge, and an impossibly large Cheshire grin, stretching from side to side.

"Well"

The Gengar said, leaping forward suddenly and grabbing the human by the throat, holding him close enough to smell the noxious collection of fumes that was its body.

"Mr.Stone, I hear you know something about Military Project X – S4"

When the news hit that Mr.Stone, president of the Devon Corporation (which was a monopoly on nearly everything in Hoenn), and according to 'The Kantonian Insider', the fourth richest man on earth had died, Timeria was completely unphased.

Actually, a more appropriate use of terminology was that she neither particularly understood the statement, nor cared. In fact, at the moment, she was having a hard enough time caring about what had happened to her nearly a month ago to her, and had yet to detach herself from the fur of the Eevee who had been there when she had woken up. Several attempts had been made by nearly everyone to cheer her up, or at least stop damn crying (It was a wonder she wasn't constantly dehydrated) for a while. At first, they had attempted to leave her in the hands of the police, which was promptly foiled when she refused to physically leave Ven's sides; the claw marks now embedded in his flesh were proof enough of that.

Then, they had tried to leave Ven alone to his own devices (thereby also removing the problem of the whiney Buizel), which was also foiled when the Eevee blatantly refused to be left to deal with her on his own, while Narc disliked leaving an emotionally dependant female behind. He himself had tried his cards with her too, which (lucky for her), were promptly ignored. Even when Ven spoke, she barely paid attention.

The albino was, while he admittedly liked the closeness of a female, rapidly tiring of this dependency. Engraved in both of their memories was the instance of Narc and Ven both whining; the former that the female seemed to prefer Ven, and the later the same reason. 

Tiris, on the other hand, was fully aware of why the female was so emotionally distraught (Having caught sight of the last 24 hours the Buizel could remember), and silently sympathized with her. She toyed with the idea of telling the male quadrupeds she was skilled in the arts of psychiatric trances, and could potentially solve Timeria's problem prematurely, but ultimately decided against it. It was much healthier if she simply released emotions naturally, until she could come to terms with the things she had seen and heard. 

Which, as she said it to herself, reminded the Kadabra about the other member that had apparently joined their troupe; yet another male quadruped, this in the form of a testy Raichu that seemed to snap whenever any of them got near. Still, Tiris wasn't too worried about him; from preliminary mental scans and general observation, she decided all these acts of apparent aggression were half-hearted, as she expected they would be. After all, he was finally free of the hellhole of a laboratory, and though he was still held prisoner to their trainer (From his earlier outburst, the police had decided he was simply to aggressive from drug injections to release back into the wild and would have been put down by an appropriate action team if Sean hadn't volunteered to act as his trainer and watch his actions until he could be deemed "healthy" once more). 

To the Kadabra, Mr.Stone's death had a significantly bigger impact, even if only in the sense of one reading in a newspaper of a historic even that actually impacted them very little. Psychology being her area of study of choice, she could tell the death of the old man was a significant event that could potentially shift the entire power division of Rustboro definitely, and potentially all of Hoenn. Silph, seeing the weakness in the previously dangerous competitor Devon Co., may decide to introduce them to the area where they were previously virtually unknown. Devon itself may be split up among investors, provided Mr.Stone's will didn't specify his shares being given to his son, Steven Stone. That, of course, was unlikely as Steven had said several times he has no interest in running the family business. 

It was an intriguing situation, the Kadabra decided. Even the method of death was shady; the man had apparently jumped out of the large window from his suite, at the top of the fifteen story Devon Co. building. It being a planned murder seemed likely; at the same time as his death, his desk apparently caught fire from the panic button, placed under the first shelf, short-circuiting, destroying all the documents within. At the same time, the lock in his door was apparently seared shut, his telephone melted from the inside out, and each lightbulb in the entire room had been destroyed. Still, there were no fingerprints anywhere in the suite suspicious, no signs of a struggle detectable, and nothing strange caught on tape, although it was likely the security footage had been tampered with. 

As it was, all of the suspects in the investigation were barely linked, and it did not look like there would be any convictions soon. At any other time, the Kadabra would have tried her own hand attempting to solve the case (Mystery novels were, by far, her favorite), if she were not having enough difficulty as it was preventing the tree males from killing eachother, or Sean himself. As it was, she had to have broken out seven fights between Ray and Narcissus, four between Narcissus and Ven, two between Ven and Ray, four between all three of them, and stop countless amounts of Fireballs, Trump Cards and Mega Punches from reaching her trainer. Even still, she couldn't stop him from being tripped by the Raichu's tail three times, and attempting to idly scratch Narc's back.

Tiris grimaced at the memory, looking at the large cast covering Sean's hand. She wasn't entirely sure why the Eevee and Quilava stayed with them, despite their apparent loathing for eachother and the human, but didn't really question it. 

She sighed again. They all had left the Mauville area after destroying the Rocket laboratory there, and were apparently migrating towards Fallabor. Although he did not say it, and the Kadabra was not presumptuous enough to intrude on his mind, he could tell the reason for his determination to leave almost immediately. Although she hadn't been with him that long, she could tell the boy was on no good terms with his family, and it was only a matter of time until they appeared on the scene. Not only that, she could tell the boy no longer had much of a goal… for the past three years, he had been infiltrating the Rocket facilities, obtaining information and destroying them from within. And know, with that all over and done with and his reputation with the Rockets botched, he did not know what to do anymore. Tiris smiled, thanking Uxie for the plethora of psychiatric examples that had been given to her, from the lustful Narc to the mourning Timeria to the enraged Ray. 

At the moment, she noticed, it was relatively calm. Sean was leading the way, as always with her at his side, with Ray following behind (muttering quietly under his breath. He had just been fetched back by Narc after attempting to run away several hours earlier), Ven, Timeria and Narc taking up the rear. Timeria was sniffling quietly, which was a nice change from her constant crying, still walking touching Ven's flank. Narc was on the other side of Ven, bickering with him about something insignificant. It was nearing twilight, and all of them were beginning to feel the calming effects of being tired and knowing they would stop to sleep soon. 

Tiris then blinked as she noticed something entering her radar. It was feeble, but still went off… She shook her head a couple times, trying to decipher what it was. And then, a sense of astonishment and understanding covered her features as she rapidly teleported out. Sean paused, astonished the psychic type had left without even a hint to the reason of her dissapearence, which was rapidly solved when she appeared with a man at her feet. He looked about fourty, although his features were obscured by muck and dirt; he was lined and had a wild-eyed expression, but most noticeable was the gaping wounds across his body. His chest was bare, and covered in deep, purplish burns, with a long bloody slash across his torso being the culmination of his wounds. His arms were bathed in red, assumingly from the blood from the massive gouge in his stomach.

"He-help" He managed to croak out, a small bit of blood frothing at the back of his throat. Tiris reacted instantly, placing both of her palms on his chest and channeling the powerful Recover technique into him. She stopped only moments later, rapidly tiring with no visible improvements on the side of the man.

'_I can't help him'_

She said finally to her trainer, who only nodded gravely.

"What's your name? What happened?" He asked the man, shaking him slightly as if to convince him not to fall asleep. 

"I…Don't know" he croaked out finally, some foam leaking from the side of his mouth.

"It all hap- I don't- can't remember…" He babbled slightly, his eyes dilating slightly. His body jerked, almost involuntarily and twitched. Suddenly, he leapt up and grabbed Sean by the coat. Face right next to him.

"S-stop, the disk! Please, no, stop! Ge- thim.. Not me! I don't…Only two! Just…two." Finally, as if those words had sapped whatever strength he had left, the man crumpled to the ground, pulseless. 

Tiris gulped as she looked over his fallen corpse; and saw a new gash, horizontal and directly underneath the chin. 


	12. Predetermined Information limit Exceeded

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Just a small warning to readers, this chapter isn't likely to make sense. Trust me, even I barely know what I meant when I wrote it. Then again, it'll all make sense soon, so stay with me.**

**Also, fanfiction appears to hate my boarders, as its eaten about seven different attempts to seperate PoVs. So bear with me while I try to find something that works. **

**Chapter 2**

Tiris felt numb as she stared down at the pale corpse of the formally raving man, an unnatural coldness quickly spreading outward from the left side of her chest. Her breathing grew ragged, as her mental process was scrambled and sent into discord. Something didn't fit; something was out of place…

She looked around wildly, between the varied reactions of those near her. Sean was staring in revulsion and horror at the mutilated body, hastily talking into a cell phone, presumably to medical aid. Narc watched in mild interest, awkwardly stifling a yawn while looking completely unconcern. Ven looked with shock at the body, although she noticed he was taking it better than the human. Timeria looked paralyzed with fear, painfully gripping Ven's flank

Still, Tiris shuddered, struggling to think logically. What was happening? What was missing, what was-

She gasped as her sight changed, as if a lens had been removed from her eyes. Sean was a dead, swaying corpse; a gaping hole made up his chest, the edges around the circle looking blackened and brittle, as if an extreme source of heat were pressed through him.

Ven, on the other hand, was still alive though horribly changed. Metal replaced near his entire left side, his right covered in blemishes. Thick bracers of metal covered large portions of his face, although it left a big enough gap to see the crazed, bloodshot eyes.

Timeria was perhaps better, or worse off. Hanging on to life by just a thread, she was pale and fur had fallen out in great patches. A great tiredness covered her face and eyes, showing no particular wish to continue lifting. A small movement showed that the Buizel's entire tail had been removed, replaced with a small metal hub covering the stump.

The Kadabra gulped, dreading yet oddly curious at what the Quilava would look like. Turning with a similar sense of odd feelings, she turned to see-

A Typhlosion, mirroring the same look of boredom the Quilava had shown earlier. No particular scars or metallic reattachments appeared on the fire type's body, which looked as able as his former had been as a Quilava. And yet, that in itself was eerie… for the Typhlosion still blended in with the other three casually, with no particular concern, revolution of praise for any of them.

The Psychic type trembled, then fell to her knees, dry sobs rising to the surface. She only looked upwards when she felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Curious, she took the hand and rose back to eyelevel, staring the newcomer in the red eyes. He appeared to be a Gengar, of the ordinary sort, though she found his eyes perhaps slightly brighter than they should be. It took her a moment to realize the ghost wasn't boasting the grin his kind were known for.

"Terrible business, eventualities" it finally spoke, a tone of regret accompanying the sentence.

"You think you know someone, then they just turn around and do something you'd never expect. Trust me; I've been around long enough to know… you can't trust mortals."

The Kadabra gave him an odd look, before gesturing to the grotesque creatures around her. "You did…" She trailed off, unable to create a cohort sentence in these unlikely circumstances. The ghost just chuckled.

"Yah, I did it. Well…" He paused, looking around at the four. "I didn't do that to them, per say. They did it to themselves. Or will do it anyway…" He paused again, for a moment looking as if he had forgotten what he had to say.

"But I'm the one showing you know what'll happen later, yup. Or might, anyway, the future's so pesky to tell accurately these days…"

"Why…" The Kadabra shivered, unable to speak more than the single word for a moment. She gathered her strength, long enough to produce an entire sentence.

"And how would you know this would happen? I find it rather unlikely…"

The Gengar chuckled.

"Listen to me dearie, the world'll be a much different place in a couple years, believe you me. As for how I know…" The ghost shrugged, putting on a nonchalant expression.

"I've lived a long time, and've been practicing Future Sight nearly every year of that. After a certain point, future and present started to seem no different. I don't care really… I'm immortal, so the affairs of mortals rarely bother me."

"Then why…"

"Why am I here?" The Gengar smiled the Cheshire smile its kind was known for. "I'm glad you asked. See, me and ma' boss –Yes, I do have a boss, I know its hard to imagine- see a bit o' potential in you, and we think it would be a crying shame if we just let you by to waste your talents on what future has planned for you right now. No, we're not offering you a job."

The Kadabra breathed a brief sigh of relief, although now rather worried what the ghost would ask her to do.

"All we'd like you to do is go on with your life, do whatever you think you want to… but carry this with you." The phantom clasped her paw, depositing a small trinket into it. Tiris looked closely at the small item, feeling intense waves of Ghostly energies emanating from it, which quickly died down. Soon, it seemed nothing more than a silver symbol of a stylized fang, an eye with a line through it superimposed on the front.

"That's all?" She said skeptically, as she looked it over.

"That's it" The Ghost said with a good-natured chuckle.

"You can even attach it to that Pocket mirror you carry around with you. Don't worry; it won't turn you into a zombie or something like that. It's just a little…insurance. It'll do its job, if we cannot." The Gengar said, not a trace of deceit in his voice. Tiris eyed him warily, noticing the unlikely circumstances of his "gift", but against her better judgment, removed her Pocket mirror from the holster on her waist. The Gengar's grin grew slightly as she clicked the small object onto the silver chain, blending in well with the style.

"Excellent" the ghost said, giving her a strange thumbs up. "I'm afraid I'll have to leave now, what with being a busy ghost and all… but, I think your-" he chuckled slightly at this, gesturing to the creatures around them. "-Friends require your assistance as it is. Goodbye; I have a feeling we'll meet again."

With that, the Gengar gave a wave and Tiris felt a wave of nausea as heat passed through her system. She panted, as it felt like the world came crashing down upon her. The horrifying visions that once surrounded her disappeared, to her great thankfulness, although she was portionally surprised when she noticed their actual counterparts were nowhere to be seen.

"Tiris!" Her head spun, hearing her name called by a familiar voice. Sean... she sighed with relief, knowing her trainer was still safe from harm. Or perhaps not, from the urgency of his call…

Ignoring the lingering pounding headache, she quickly gathered up her energies and make a quick teleport to the general direction she heard the voice call, reappearing moments later in what appeared to be the middle of the thick forest. It took her a moment to register they were under attack; Narc, Ven, and Ray were lashing about at some enemy that for some strange reason, she could not detect, plus two startling additions. First was Timeria, who had seemingly been able to tear herself away from Ven in order to join in the battle with Water Pulses and Ice Beams, though she seemed rapidly tiring.

Secondly, there was a Tentacool, launching his own torrents of ice elemental energy into the fray. Tiris stared at him, puzzled for a moment, before her recent memory resurfaced. Right… they had caught the Tentacool recently, hadn't they… and for some reason, she found him interesting because… what was it again?

The Kadabra shook her head, attempting to reorganize her thoughts. Het suspicions increased that the weird Gengar had done something to her other than give her a…a…

She paused, unable to recollect much of her encounter with the ghost. She remembered the scenery fading out, as she approached to meat him, then…

It was all fogged up, much moreso than her other short-term memory. A small growl of frustration started to gather in the back of her throat as the evidence of her being tricked began to add up, but she attempted to place it in the back of her mind for now. She noticed, with some frustration, whatever her allies were fending off still seemed invisible to her, as if it didn't exist.

She wondered for a moment if perhaps they were simply not fighting anything at all, and were simply mad, but shook her head. A case of mass madness like that would be unheard of… unless, they were under attack…

She paused for a moment, wondering if the Gengar had tricked her a second time by tricking all of her ally's but paused a moment later as she spied a small, black object on the ground.

A feather.

She grimaced. So, that's what it was…

With renewed eyes, she turned to the creatures, seeing them clearly for once, as dark, flighted creatures with oddly shaped crowns. There seemed to be about ten or so of them, all rather imposing looking Murkrow. Obviously, she had missed them earlier due to her weakened senses, and dependency on psychic energies to enhance her normally weak senses.

She grimaced slightly, realizing one last fact in the face of these feathered opponents.

She didn't have any attacks capable of doing any real damage.

Narc grimaced as he released another stream of flames, scorching the feathers of a couple nearby Murkrow. He grinned in satisfaction, after watching one of the ones he struck flutter about in a panic, before colliding head-first with a nearby tree, knocking him down and out of the battle, before jumping as another bird stabbed its sharp beak into his side once again.

Narc grimaced, his situation being incredibly unfavorable to his normal style. It was too chaotic a battle to make a good use out of Double Team, and the Murkrow were clustered too closely together for speed techniques to have any of their usual effects.

Of course, what pissed him off the most was that the idiotic Kadabra was simply standing around like a statue, maybe a quarter mile or so back, staring into space. The death of the weird human was a strange change in the monotony, Narc admitted, but really not something to freeze up about. After all, death happened every day, the guy was old, and obviously he had bitten off more than he could chew. Like most humans.

At this point, the Quilava's mind began to wander, as he wondered exactly where all the females he'd thought he was sure to find by traveling around with these stiffs were. As it was, he hadn't found much of anything, and those he did hurried off before he could get anything with them. He was momentarily brought out of his one-track mindset by (yet another) peck to the side, this one drawing a minor amount of blood.

Narc grimaced slightly at his wound, before responding with another jet of flames at the offending black-feathered annoyance. He almost cackled with glee as he noticed the bird actually caught fire, squawking in pain for a moment before collapsing to the ground, obviously unconscious. Or dead, it hardly mattered really.

'_Two down' _the Quilava thought victoriously, after attempting (and failing) to recall how many of them there had been when he started. Eventually, he decided it simply didn't matter, and once again entered 'auto-pilot' mode once again with his musings on females and his current trek.

If nothing else, his traveling mates were horrible. The damned white Eevee infuriated him in nearly every circumstance (He himself, of course, returning the favor whenever possible), but always seemed to do it while looking the superior or 'morally right' of the two.

Narc would've snorted, if it wouldn't have left himself open to a potentially fatal shot to the organs. 'Morally right', what a joke. While he might not have, what was commonly considered 'respect' for others, he wasn't really too bad. Or at least, he was better than that selfish Eevee, anyway. From what he had heard of the albinos (rather boring) stories, it seemed he lived in relative luxury until being abducted by the Rockets, most likely being wasteful of things others would kill to get. Narc knew little of currency, trade or wealth, but he did know what it was like to have nothing while others had everything. Many a time he had seen clans of other Pokemon pass by, laden thick with massive stores of edible objects, while they were practically starving.

Then again, in each of those situations they just stole what they wanted from the other tribe, but that was beside the point.

Narc quickly parried the beak of an approaching Murkrow with his paw, smacking it into one of its allies before following it up with another blast of heat, enveloping both creatures. While, unlike the other they didn't quite alight, they still reacted violently, retreating quickly into the near-solid mob of black feathers.

At this point, however, Narc was quite bored with the fight. The Murkrow obviously couldn't to anything but attempt to jab them with those sharp beaks of those, and their only real advantage was the large size of their Murder. Narc toyed with the idea of lighting one of the nearby trees ablaze, which would probably send the dark-type birds scurrying, but eventually decided against it on the principle of it potentially harming the Buizel.

The thought of her brought a smile to Narc's face. They had found her among the cages of the other captured Pokemon, obviously distraught, but very, very attractive. From the sleek form of her tails to the almost vulpine look of the head, she was a prize that would make most of the others back in the clan willing to kill for. At first, he had thought it would've been a rather simple feat to comfort her in her time of need, which eventually could've worked out for the benefit of the both of them. She would have some male comfort, and he- He grinned slightly at the thought of it- would have some female company.

Of course, he didn't foresee the Eevee; Ven (it wasn't habitual for him to remember the names of males he didn't find incredibly important) getting to her first and providing his own support, almost surely with no real meaning or intention of any sort of commitment (a couple the Quilava knew of sniggered when his kind used that word, for a reason he couldn't fathom) backing it up. Predictably, the female had decided to go by his side, instead of the Quilava's own.

Narc vented a small amount of his anger at the situation by launching a particularly potent Flamethrower into the Murder, causing the nearby Murkrow to scatter or drop to the ground from the incredible heat. He noticed, through the momentary opening in the swarm, the very Buizel he was talking about had apparently grown a backbone and was now fighting along side the rest of them, releasing shaky but effective Water Jets and Water Pulses into the fray.

He took a moment to "appreciate" her moving figure, dancing nimbly to avoid the strikes of the flighted fiends, which lead to some rather interesting positions of the body most species would consider "compromising". Narc just grinned, the back of his eyes glowing with a strange light to them. He was shocked out of his momentary staring (and nearly drooling, he noted by the amount of saliva that had accumulated in his jaw), by another not one, but three pecks to his side, irritating already present wounds.

He turned around, blasting them quickly with a minor inferno, which all but one of them quickly dodged. He grimaced; they were getting smarter. Well, that or only the smart ones were left; he wasn't too good with numbers, but decided there couldn't be many more than six of them left. Still, the ones that were left were rather mean-looking, with wingspans that far exceeded the others. Truthfully that also made them easier targets, but they quickly made up for that with stronger attacks and evasion capabilities.

He grinned as he caught sight of the other two members of his party, which were apparently having several difficulties. The Raichu, whom he had thought at first would have no problem taking down the birds with the powerful electric attacks his species was known for, hadn't launched so much as a single Thunderbolt, and was trying (quite unsuccessfully) to bite or punch one of the birds. His tempter seemed to be rapidly thinning, as his tail lashed about in fury and his eyes appeared slightly more bloodshot then they normally were.

Ven, on the other hand, was simply floundering. Covered in small nicks and scratches, he launched the odd strange golden sphere at his opponents, but few of them seemed to have any effect. Still, he tried valiantly, shooting more gold orbs in an attempt to do something. Still, more Murkrow dived at him, simply cutting him up more in the process.

Narc backpeddled slightly out of the way of another attacker, before turning around to face a second one, that squawked loudly when it noticed it was heading directly for the maw of the fire type. Narc made short work of the avian with a forceful Flamethrower, which made it screech in pain before dropping pathetically to the ground.

Narc landed, looking rather pleased with himself. The fires on his back seemed to grow slightly, as he began to raise his internal temperature in preparation for one of his strongest techniques; Lava Plume. Truthfully, he would've preferred to use Erruption, but he wasn't nearly ticked off enough to attempt it with any real effect. He sighed, letting the dry air expand his wide third lung (Whose' sole purpose was to provide air to stroke the flames from his Firegland). Then, just as he felt the powerful heat build up in his core, he abruptly stopped, causing him to double over as noxious fumes he had already created invaded his other two lungs. He stared around in amazement and irritation, although he couldn't help figuring he expected that.

The Eevee was promptly stealing the show with a massive golden orb of energy he had released, that radiated powerful waves of energy outward, quickly overtaking the weakened Murkrow and causing them to scatter. Narc himself felt the punishment of the raw energy, though rather distracted by his annoyance first of all. He waited until the shockwave had subsided and the albino fell to the ground in exhaustion, a glowing star falling from the heavens to heal him moments after, before rising to his paws again.

Narc snorted.

"Show off."

* * *

A gengar watched from the shadows, cackling slightly as the flock subsided. Moments later, a Murkrow dropped to perch on a branch right next to him. While it probably couldn't have been picked out of a flock, it was notably different than its brethren; its skin hung closely to its body, making it look boney and nearly skeletal. It had a violet feather plume in its crown, garnishing it like some middle aged poet. But, once again, its defining feature was two stone-grey eyes, betraying no emotion other than mild disinterest.

"So…" The gengar stopped, pausing for a moment.

"What'd you think?" He said finally.

The Murkrow gave a long, shuddering sigh.

"It, awk, think" It began, speaking in a raspy tone. Then, abruptly, it changed; where there was once a bird, there was a phantom; dressed like a petit figure in robes and a hat similar to what it wore as a bird, yet a vibent purple in color.

"_That you should just stick to your duties, Ryull."_

It finished fluently, though no longer speaking physically.

Ryull gaped incredulously at it.

"You're kidding, right? Look!"

From nowhere, the poison ghost produced a disk in a plastic casing, two red color code bands on each side decorating it.

"I did what you told me to! AND this at the same time! How can you reprimand me for that?"

The mismagius paused. If it were weighing the evidence, even the gengar couldn't tell.

"You say the Kadabra will matter, correct?" It finally asked, breaking the minor silence it created.

"Yes! That's why I brought you all the fucking way to Hoenn!" The gengar nearly yelled.

"Why the hell Giratina keeps you, I have no clue. Look, I can see the damn future, _RIGHT?_ Do you trust me on that?"

The mismagius paused for a moment. "Yes."

"Then trust me on this! I just made our job SO much easier! You'll thank me later Omen, I know you will." The Gengar put on a triumphant smirk.

Omen sighed.

"Ryull, despite which way this turns, I highly doubt that I'll ever thank you for it."

He finished, before fading away.

Ryull paused and stood their blinking. Then, suddenly, he shot a blast of energy into the ground, eradicating a food foot of earth downwards.

"I fucking hate new management…"


	13. New Data Access

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 3**

**-**

**--**

**-**

Baou strutted through town, completely oblivious to the hundreds of odd stares he was attracting. If anything, he was encouraged by it, a strange, eerie grin on his gem-embroidered visage; which, at the moment, had a colorful green velvet had adorning it, covered in long peacock and dyed blue, red and yellow feathers. Twin streamers of green and yellow trailed behind him, fluttering in the slightly breeze and the speed of his stride.

Beside him was a rather more self-conscious Flygon, who sauntered self-consciously through town, looking rather down-trodden and meek at the various stares he was also getting, being a rare Pokemon (apparently wild) in the middle of a human city with a surplus population.

Even if his presence was dwarfed by the hat-wearing ghost.

"Remind me again, Baou…" He said after a moment, tail swishing nervously. "Why the hell are we here?"

Baou simply made a 'task' sound with his mouth, then stayed silent while continuing to strut. After a few more moments, he found it appropriate to respond.

"We're meeting Hiromi and Ocean at the other end of the town. They wanted to go shopping, or something else girls do. Who knows?"

"…And the hat?"

"Why not? I prefer it to my usual idiotic façade. Besides, I think I look fashionable. Don't you agree?"

The desert dragon sighed. "No." He responded flatly.

The small shadow-ghost just shrugged in response. "It was this or the gold chains. And Hiromi would've confiscated the chains, her and her obsession with gold… Comparable to yours with silver, Zeke."

Zeke just grunted, mildly aware of a singular police man watching him; or, more specifically, the silver bracer around his wrist, neck and tail.

"Ignore him." The Sableye said, almost as if he had read the dragon's mind.

"He can't prove you stole them. Though technically you did."

Zeke grunted indignantly (prompting a step backward for the majority of the accumulating croud). "I highly doubt that pharaoh would've minded a couple missing pieces of silver, he's been dead for over a thousand years for Giratina's sake!"

Baou shrugged. "From what Ryull's told me, he was pretty stingy with his golds and silvers. So somehow, I think he would mind."

Zeke sniffed the air once, once again in indigenization, but didn't respond as they turned a corner to find the two beings they had been looking for at the entrance to some human coffee shop; a Houndoom, looking bored enough to light one of the humans on fire for fun (Which he had no doubt she would do, given enough time), and a Pikachu, who was attempting to busy herself reading the complex menu of the shop. While he could tell the humans of the area found their presence discontenting, none of them dared to make a scene.

That is, until one caught the eye of the approaching duo, and promptly dropped his (most likely expensive, due to the amount of whipping cream applied) coffee to the ground. Zeke found himself unable to blame the guy, as he couldn't quite wrap his mind around his partner's choice of attire either.

"You made it." The Houndoom said simply, not looking disturbed in the slightest by Baou's hat, though she lifted a lip to snarl at the approaching crowd, who promptly backed away. Even the police officer took a couple steps back, though interestingly, the growlith at his side's ears did little more than perk up.

The Pikachu, on the other hand, looked slightly disturbed at the company.

"Did you…need to bring an entourage?" She said after a moment, an eyebrow cocked in what looked like a permanent position.

Baou shrugged, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his bejeweled face.

"It'll make bumping into that Quilava again look more like an accident than just coming out of nowhere, you'll see. Oh, by the way, I heard from Ryull that Raichu you like's with them."

Ocean's cheeks burned, enough so a change was actually visible around her normally red cheeks.

Baou's grin grew, if that were even possible. "You already knew? My my, if you aren't a naughty little Pikachu, stalking him like this… I'm sure that's some sort of a legal offense."

Ocean sputtered for a moment, attempting to come up with an appropriate answer.

Baou just cackled at her response and waved her off. Even Zeke cracked a small smile, even though he was still aware of the human eyes boring into his back, perhaps wondering what the laughter was all about. The Growlithe seemed to be listening intently, which disturbed him greatly (especially considering Baou had used the words 'legal offense'), though he was also eying Hiromi in a way the Flygon couldn't help thinking he would grow to regret in a short period of time.

The Houndoom in question snarled as if she could hear Zeke's thoughts, causing the crowd to step back another step (with the Growithe, of course, as an exception). The Houndoom took note of this, and snapped her jaws in the direction of the canine. Though he appeared to debate it in his mind, eventually the police canine stepped backwards once, perhaps out of respect.

Baou, who was still chuckling at that moment, got himself under control. "Well, should we go 'coincidently' bump into our old friend Narcissus and Ocean here's future mate?" He asked, humor touching his voice.

Zeke cocked an eyescale this time. "You remembered his name?"

The Sableye, in turn, cocked what should've been an eyebrow for a being such as he; "You didn't?"

"I don't make it a habit to remember obscure Quilava we happen to meet months ago."

"It was only five weeks. And we knew we'd have an assignment involving him."

"So? Still doesn't mean I should memorize everything about him."

"And that, Zeke, is why you're expendable and I am not. Come." The ghost made an obnoxious gesture with his hand, and turned to leave. A vein throbbed in his living partner's forehead.

"Now just wait a moment…"

Ocean sighed, interrupting what he was about to say.

"I think you're both idiots. Let's go."

And with that, the electric rodent turned and walked down one of the alleys, tail swishing pointedly behind her. Baou shrugged, and followed, eventually joined by the Flygon and Houndoom.

There was silence walking for a few moments, the crowd having miraculously stayed, stunned, in place.

"I'm not expendable…" Eventually came the sulky cry of Zeke, greated by the cackle of Baou's laughter and cried of Ocean's exasperation.

Hiromy grunted, opening her impressive Houndoom fangs.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're all expendable if you don't SHUT THE FUCK UP."

* * *

"Sooo… Let me get this straight…" The Quilava said seriously, as he surveyed his team members (including the human, whom Tiris was currently translating for).

"This is a place where trainers leave Pokemon…" he continued leisurely, causing Ray to flick his tail in irritation.

"Yes, they leave Pokemon here. How observant." He muttered under his breath.

Narc ignored him. "To meet other Pokemon…" He continued, trailing off again.

Timeria sighed, already knowing where this was leading. She had gotten her confidence back recently, and managed to detach herself from Ven soon enough (Although the two couldn't carry on an entire conversation, she found, without getting awkward and finding an excuse to end it), before being promptly hit on by the Quilava.

At first, she had taken the fire type's approached as simply being friendly and trying to get her to forget about what had happened before she was captured. It didn't take long, however, to realize he was the incarnate of the soul of lust. Since then, she had taken to Water Jetting him whenever he looked at her too strangely.

"And mate with them to create other Pokemon." He finished, quite lamely. After being informed by Tiris of what the Quilava said, the human furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Yes. And your point is…" He said, standing up and wondering what the Quilava was getting to. He was given a forsive hint, however, when said quadruped leapt at him, short claws digging into his jacket. "You have GOT to leave me here." He fire type said seriously, looking the trainer in the eyes as he said so.

The human shook roughtly, managing to disengage the pokmeon from his person, before scratching the back of his head oddly. "Uh, sorry Narc, but no-can-do. We have other stuff to do first."

The fire type's eye twitched.

Timeria felt like laughing. The group had reached the city only a couple days ago, after the incident with the Murkrow and the body. The actual traveling had seen little action, although they had called the medics to take the body of the man, however mangled. He was apparently identified as one of the head scientists of Devon Co., which made it fairly suspicious the Head and a head scientist would both die of mysterious circumstances within days of eachother.

Still, their stay in the city hadn't been bad. She'd learned it was named "Cyanville", and was currently the newest fully-fledged town in Hoenn. Apparently, it was christened such to deal with the surplus population of Mauville; an indeed, the majority of civilians within it were originally from Mauville, which was only a short sub ride away (which, of course, Sean had refused to take).

What really impressed Timeria however, was the concept of a city itself. Having never seen such a concentration of humans, the effect was nearly mind blowing; a veritable jungle of concrete, steel and glass, filled to the brim with humans.

She felt herself joke slightly, to herself, that if Humans were Pokemon, they would invariably be Steel type.

Ray was less impressed. He'd been around to several cities in his time, this wasn't anything special. In fact, he mused to himself, he thought he may have seen the bases of most of these buildings before, back when the city was young and barely created.

Chulu's reaction was, in a way, similar yet different to anyone else's. The Tentacool had seen nothing like it, ever, and yet he had seen so little in his entire few days of existence that it did not surprise him. He simply absorbed it as a part of life, and saw it as normal, as a kit might have done were they capable of showing their thoughts like he was.

Sean, who was apparently familiar with the city, had taken it upon himself to give them a tour. Of course, he found resistance in continuing after his first destination, which he admitted probably wasn't the best idea to show to Narc first of all.

The Daycare Breeding center.

But still, the youth had other places to show his team, and he wasn't about to let a Quilava change that.

Even if he had received second degree burns from him.

Sean's hand twitched with the memory, as he rubbed it out of habit. The fire type glared at him with something that resembled dominance, showing that he hadn't forgotten it either.

Sean was beginning to regret this entire trainer thing. He could've been plenty successful just training Tiris, make it as a Police officer back in Mauville maybe… but nooo, he had to go and keep all sorts of Pokemon and do what he wanted. Not only that, but he had to have the most screwed up team in existence… a chauvinistic Quilava (the extent of that, he was blissfully unaware of), a clingy Buizel (though she was doing better), a Raichu that was just ill tempered (though not without reason), a shiny Eevee that always acted rather snobbish when he addressed him (He wasn't entirely sure why), and a Tentacool he found just plain weird.

He sighed.

Meanwhile, Narc had made a break for the Daycare center, deciding to screw whatever the human said. After all, there were apparently females there, and he hadn't had a female for-

"Hey buddy!"

Narc yelped in protest as he was pulled up by the nape of his neck, struggling like a kit. He settled down after a moment, and just glared at the being two had pulled him up; a seven foot green desert dragon, smiling at him with a goofy expression.

He wasn't particularly surprised to see the dimwitted Sableye beside him, drooling and wearing a colorful hat nearly the same size as he was.

The dragon was seemingly oblivious to the death glare Narc gave him.

"Long time no see, hunh? Fancy meeting you here! We were just strutting around town and whatnot, and decided to pay our favorite little Quilava buddy a visit!"

The dragon gave a couple pats to Narc's head, much to his chagrin (especially considering it shrugged of his flames like a flame-retardant glove).

"Have I met you before?" Narc muttered, already exasperated at the newcomer's visits. Truth be told, he knew exactly who they were (It was difficult to forget more potentially annoying creatures, he admitted).

"What are you talking about?" The dragon responded, still failing to put the fire type down. "We're good buddies! We talked at the rocket base, remember? Baou does! And he usually can't remember anything…"

The ghost type in question gave a small jerk of the paw, before a line of dribble fell from his jaw to the ground at the presence of his pseudo-smile.

Narc sighed, quickly realizing this wasn't going to end quickly.

He wondered how hard he'd have to bite to pierce skin. Whose, he still wasn't sure.

* * *

Meanwhile, a couple blocks away from Narc's unfortunate "reunion" with the Flygon, a gathering of a somewhat different sort was taking place.

Two quadrupeds hesitantly entered an abandoned warehouse, keenly aware they were at a distinct disadvantage if they happened to be ambushed. One of the two, one distinctly female with short, light blue fur and a long, fishlike tail, was nearly shuddering with fear.

"O-Orin…" She muttered, quietly to her companion; a male, with strange, spiky yellow fur (though his neck was framed with a mane of white), and large, almost rabbit-like ears.

He smiled down at her, brushing his tail comfortingly against her flank.

"Don't be so worried sis… He's not too bad. Sides' he says he can help us." He responded with a cheerful grin. "Not to mention he's still related to us… and if you can't trust family, who can you trust?" The Jolteon felt a strange pang in his chest as he said that, though it quickly faded. "He doesn't like the light much, which is why I assume he brought us here."

"Partially."

Both Eons jumped considerably, the Jolteon's fur sticking up automatically in dangerous spikes, and the Vaporeon flinching and shaking in place.

"You two are pathetic."

A shadow moved from among the dusty crates, revealing itself to be an Umbreon, a bemused expression on his face. He didn't seem particularly threatening, to which the Vaporeon was immensely grateful for when she actually regained the courage to turn around.

"Jet." Orin said stiffly, staring his sibling in the eyes. He instantly regretted it, the seemingly spiraling red eyes of the dark type giving him a near instant headache, but still didn't break eye contact.

The Umbreon smirked and walked off to the side. Orin found himself immensely confused when he attempted to move his eyes, and found them stuck in the position they had been the for the last ten or so seconds.

"It isn't wise to stare directly at a Dark type's eyes. There's a reason we're all predators, you know. But, that hardly matters."

Jet sat on his haunches and licked a paw, idly grooming himself. "So, exactly what do you think I could possibly help you with? After all…" The Umbreon gave a chilling grin.

"What I do isn't likely to matter much in the human cities."

Orin shook his head, then smirked as he regained control of his eyes. Taking care not to look particularly frightened, he a rather relaxed posture and sarcastic tone. "Not likely to matter much? Exactly what do you do?"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." The Umbreon responded, eyes locked towards the Jolteon. "That isn't a pun. I would literally have to kill you. It isn't looking too good so far, anyway."

Neither of the eons answered, the former seemingly out of the boredom, the latter in fright.

"Look." The Jolteon said, looking serious once more. "I honestly couldn't care less if you were the damn bodyguard for Giratina himself. We just need a safe place to stay out of the sight and scope of Rockets. Can you do that?"

The Umbreon paused, still staring at the Jolteon (at the moment, the female Eon of the three seemed quite content with being forgotten), then finally sighed.

"I can't. I do know, however, someone who can. Have either of you kept in contact with Ky-" He paused, head suddenly snapping towards the crates.

Orin stared at him in surprise. "What are you-"

His question was answered, however, when a row of crates in front of him spontaneously exploded in a show of energy and power. Jet growled at the apparent cause of the detonation, which was still partially hidden by the debris. Seconds passed, and the strange figure that could have possibly been responsible disappeared.

"What's happening?" The Vaporeon wailed.

Jet growled. "We're under attack."


	14. Unidentified Data Corruption

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

I apologize for the time it took for me to get this chapter up. No particular excuse this time, just general laziness, school and real life complications. The next chapter should be out quicker.

**Chapter 4**

**-**

**--**

**-**

"**Hello. I am Military Project X-4"**

Ryull stared at the dull glow of the monitor, which was currently displaying nothing else but that simple message, tacked onto an alert box. He hadn't been expecting a response like that, after loading the pair of disks together. The program was only two fifths complete, and yet it still showed some signs of sentience.

"Hello Military Project X-4. I am Ryull." He responded with a note of humor in his voice, wondering if the program was strong enough yet to utilize the voice capture device.

"**I know. Our location is currently the city of Fenrir, which has not been shown on any civilian or military maps of Hoenn since 1764, Radar coordinates 6092, 1195. You are part of the active unit of Fenrir's comparable military faction, and were until recently the leader before being usurped. You are currently two-thousand and sixty four years old, and have said to been able to view the future."**

Ryull paused, for once at a loss of what to say. He mused to himself the irony of the first being to rend him speechless was a machine, but didn't bother putting it into words. Obviously, he had underestimated the abilities of this strange program… No wonder Omen had wanted it, for whatever reason.

He only wondered why he hadn't ever heard of it.

"How is it you know of that?" He asked after a moments thought, genuinely curious for the first time in several hundred years.

"**I deduced it through the use of mathematical equations, and every military file dating back from their creation in the year 1627. History files, logical deduction methods and minor guesswork were also at play."**

"We have that much information on us on log?" Ryull mused. This could spell trouble… but once again, he was slightly irked he hadn't foreseen any of this, at any point in the future. Normally, he could spot disrupts like this from a thousand paces… though he rarely said anything.

"**Very little information was accurately documented. However, I have created new files containing said information on the city wide digital connection, which I have patched into and assimilated into myself. Information was also acquired from your own brainwaves."**

Ryull found the bit of poison-enriched ectoplasm he had for an eyebrow cocked upwards.

"You're a very creepy little machine, you know that?"

"**Invalid command; will proceed as if did not exist. I am now in complete control of all electronic devices patched into the common mainframe in the Fenrir area, currently expanding in a wide radius. Electromagnetic radar shield around city posing problematic to expansion; proceeding to terminate."**

Ryull felt his eyes grow slightly. Perhaps he wasn't the BEST programmer in the world (Despite having nearly five times as much experience as any human one, having studied the field since its creation), but that didn't sound like something one would want a program to do.

Especially since it was that field that stopped them from being detected by human satellites and such crap. If that went, they'd be exposed; if they were exposed, Turnback cave would be out in the open, and if Turnback cave were out in the open-

"**Previous commands overruled by second thought clause. Will momentarily halt expansion in order to maximize long-term growth and preserve Electromagnetic Radar Shield until such. Have already patched self into several electronic back-up systems, and into a permanent military roster on the World Wide Web. **

**Creating new documents with time unalloted to any other particular task. **

**File name: FenrirAgentList**

**File Title: FRN001**

**Components:**

**Active common Pokemon members comprised of Baou, Glysess, Jet, Omen, Ryull, Nagimi. Will provide specifics on each at a later date. Other members that may be called upon at any time include Hiromi, Ezekiel, Ocean, Emily, Xann (Pseudonym expected; will update when information becomes available), Marquis, Lilith and Darkrai, depending circumstances and individual sanctions.**

**Human members include John Adrian Zermato, Joshua Oliver Riell, and Jessica Irit MacHal. Information pending on other human members…"**

The computer continued like such, every so often brining up the window of an obscure program that was most likely modified with seconds to the data-being's specifications.

Meanwhile, Ryull was once again speechless. The program having a monopoly on their electronics wasn't too big of a blow, they hardly had any anyway, considering Omen's favorite visitor deterrent were rainless electrical storms.

But what really got to him was this program that apparently learned all about them within seconds. It almost scared him, that what had never happened in the many centuries Fenrir had been in existence…

…had been done in seconds by the ballsiest bunch of 0s and 1s he had ever seen.

* * *

Jet snarled loudly as large splinters of wood fell about the three eons, blocking their sight for a split second. Which, apparently, was all the attacker needed as the next thing the Umbreon saw was a blast of greenish-blue light, before he felt incredible pain explode from the side of his face and body.

Scowling in pain, Jet quickly got to his feet in time to avoid a second orb of light, detonating against the hard pavement. He quickly leapt onto a nearby box, using it as leverage in order to leap over to the next obstacle, just as another teal ball of energy struck the wooden box only a hair's breadth from his side, detonating in time before it had a chance to change direction.

He scowled once more, having caught the sniper in eyesight finally, who was currently charging another ball of energy between her two, black-furred hands. Her head resembled his slightly, with long, pointed ears, a muzzle and dark fur, but it was quickly obvious she wasn't an Umbreon when one noticed the blue fur covering her body and legs and her bipedal stance.

Hastily, the umbreon attempted to dodge the next wave of blue energy, once again failing as it collide sharply with his chest, causing him to crash into the wooden boxes.

The Lucario didn't waste time in charging it's replacement, as was so engrossed in forming her finishing attack she didn't notice the spiked form of Orin swipe at her from behind.

Detecting him at the last second, she hastily moved out of the way with an acrobatic jump that seemed much too difficult for a being of her size. She growled a bit at the newcomer, before summoning a line of glowing energy from her palm until she held a club made of light.

"Go. This isn't your fight" She barked, rolling her eyes slightly with it like she didn't expect him to actually do it.

Orin growled at her. "Yah right! That's my damned brother your attacking!"

The Lucario cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't that slightly hypocritical of you? I can tell…you've recently betrayed someone close to you… Immediate family, perhaps?"

Orin barked at her, obviously straining himself to stop from attacking. "You're half right. I betrayed someone in my immediate family, maybe, but I wasn't particularly close to him. Hey…" He stared at her quizzically for a moment.

"Didn't you have a stick before?"

The Lucario gave a grin, showing her empty palms innocently. Just then, pain exploded in the back of the Jolteon's head, causing him to see spots and darkness to rapidly take over his sight. The Lucario gave a single chuckle, quickly catching the spinning light baton as it rebounded back to her palm. "Well, that was easy. Where were we?"

Jet growled, mentally evaluating the situation. Now she not only held a strategic position on top of a pile of boxes, giving her a clear view of the entire area, but she had a potential hostage. Two, actually, if the Vaporeon that was currently busy cowering in a corner counted. And, like always, he was weaponless facing her.

Or was he…

The Umbreon paused for a moment, a tiny smile creeping up onto his muzzle, to be quickly interrupted as he hastily dodged as she tossed another Aura Sphere, quickly leading it into a decoy crate to detonate harmlessly before hoping up on one of the crates at the base of her pile. She cocked an eyebrow at this show of apparent stupidity, charging up yet another Aura Sphere to quickly toss at the perpetrator.

And blinked in shock as it rebounded off a green shimmering dome, apparently appearing out of nowhere. The Sphere exploded in a rain of dazzling light as it was matched by a barrier of similar energy, blinding the Lucario for a split second, which Jet quickly took advantage of, quickly leaping up and grabbing one of her wrists in his powerful jaws.

He grunted with pain as his teeth painfully bashed against the dense, almost steel-like fur covering her hands, but ignored it as he focused on his next attack. He felt his eyes go red with blood as the arteries in his eyes ruptured slightly, blinding him completely; an unfortunate side effect, but he had figured out how to repair it long ago.

He yowled with pain as it felt like his heart was torn from his ribs, up his stomach and throat and into the flesh of the creature he was biting, perspiring slightly as he trembled slightly. Still, it worked as he intended; strange colorless bonds of energy escaped from his maw, quickly absorbing themselves into the foreign flesh of the creature. The ghostly energy would quickly destroy her from within, as long as he focused on it; he wondered why he hadn't thought of it earlier, as he took a significant amount of pride in being able to use Curse in a way mainly only ghosts were capable of.

All that happened within a span of three seconds, long enough for the metallic biped to shake off his grip on her arm, and quickly counter with a Force-Palm normally capable of breaking apart cement. Though he knew how to roll with the blow and soften the hit, he still felt a sticky warmness on his side and yelped as the force of the blow sent him flying into a brick wall, shaking loose much of the old mortar.

Meanwhile, the Lucario herself groaned to herself, checking over the wound on her wrist. She saw no normal signs of poisoning –She was immune to most common venoms, anyway-, but still grimaced as she felt a twinge of pain in the pit of her stomach, accompanied by an odd coolness in her chest area.

Still, for now, she dismissed it as nothing and charged up what she hoped to be her last Aura Sphere-

-Before doubling over in pain, mind swimming and feeling the intense urge to vomit. She recovered quickly, wiping the perspiration that had formed feverishly on her forehead, and looking towards her enemy, who had gotten to his feet despite his obvious injuries and was looking rather smug.

She discovered why when she saw an orb of pure light descend and consume the night eon, bathing him in a bright glow for a couple seconds. Moments later, he emerged looking as healthy as he was at the beginning of the right; although she could notice one side of his ribcage was at an awkward angle, like the tissue around it had been healed but the bone was still in the incorrect place. Still, the Umbreon seemed well enough to snarl at her, quickly launching a Shadow ball.

She paused, shaking her head to clear it for a moment, before casually dispelling the ectoplasmic blob with a swat of her hand. Then, promptly froze as that hand burned with cold fire, causing her intense pain. She growled in frustration, jumping off her pile of crates and shoving the offending hand into a wall of cement, in an attempt to dispel the incredible pain she was being subjected to. The palm cleaved through the wall like butter, burying it deep within it, yet not quite through. Even then, the cool dampness of the inner wall soothed the burning ligament somewhat, causing her to nearly sob. She wasn't particularly new to the job; she had been subjected to pain before, but NEVER to something like that.

She paused, her ears picking up a strange sound. She turned her head, hand still stuck within the wall to find her opponent, heaving in pain- No wait, that wasn't…

He was LAUGHING. She stared dumfound at the black creature, wondering exactly how it could even see what she did, as she could tell its eyes were still blinded by their own blood.

The Umbreon collected himself a moment later, looking towards her general direction with a smirk. "You don't realize just how screwed you are, do you? Let me spell it out for you- I planted a Curse in you. I divided part of my soul, and stuck it in you to corrupt you from the inside out. I hear you Lucarios are rather savvy with this type of thing, so I assumed you knew."

She blinked, then looked down at herself, concentrating for a fraction of a second to activate her seventh sense. Sure enough, her aura appeared around her, as describable to a mortal as sight is to a blind person or sound to a deaf one. And, sure enough, something was…off, with it. She grimaced, immediately noticing the problem; indeed, there was a small hunk of aura completely different than hers, occupying a space within her and contaminating the surrounding Aura. She had sensed a similar phenomenon in pregnant females, whose kit's auras weren't yet determined for their own, but this was obviously different. It was like it was…eating her soul, from within.

She collapsed to her knees, shuddering as immense pain wracked her body again.

The Umbreon gave another smug grin. "I'll take that as a yes. I contaminated you with part of my soul, which will eat you from the inside out until I either stop concentrating on it, or you die. See, most ghosts can't use Curse as potently as I can, because they're born with the ability. They're also born with a safety mechanism, which would dissolve the portion of the soul they implant after a certain amount of time… I learned how to use Curse this way through pure blood and sweat, and therefore don't have that restriction. Soo…

"In short, you either do what I say, or die from having your own Aura eaten. Ironic eh?"

The Umbreon gave a wolfish grin, highlighted by the blood still dribbling from the sockets painting him the picture of terror. The Lucario shuddered; No, she wasn't new to the job, but she wasn't exactly a veteran either. And it was times like these she really, really wished she'd picked a better career choice.

She nodded grimly, her eyes glued to the floor.

Jet grinned. "Excellent. In that case-" He paused, staring at the palm of the hand she didn't have in the wall. Why was it glow-

His question was answered as pain erupted in the back of his head, he saw spots, and suddenly, all his senses were cut off.

The Lucario sighed in relief, the Aura Baton she had discreetly summoned and tossed returning to her uninjured hand. She removed her other from the wall, looking at it closely; there were a couple bitemarks, but it looked relatively unharmed. She grinned slightly, knowing her hypothesis had been correct; the Umbreon couldn't keep his Curse active when unconscious.

She walked up to her fallen adversary, grabbing him by the rabbit-like ears and pulling him to the similarly downed Jolteon, where she quickly arranged them so the Umbreon was face-down underneath the other Eon. She smirked slightly at the thought of when they woke up, but turned away, obviously not planning to stick around to see , as she walked down the main road to the city.

Meanwhile, Ceila, completely distraught from the scene of brutality and frank ass-kicking she had just saw, curled up and quickly fell into what could be described as a shock-induced sleep.

* * *

"Brick wall! Look!" The Sableye declared proudly, with a large amount of spittle, as if he were showing a masterpiece of art. Then again, he was still wearing a ridiculous hat, and compared to that a blank wall WAS a work of art.

Narc growled inwardly, contemplating biting his arm off in order to escape the vice-grip like 'Buddy Hold' the ghost had him in. He had already attempted burning him, biting him, kicking him, scratching him, and (to his eternal disgust) seducing him, with no apparent success.

Ray, Timeria, Ven, Tiris and the human were following behind with shrugging motions, looking confused also, though unlikely to do anything due to the powerful dragon type walking behind them. The Flygon looked nowhere near as gay as his ghostly counterpart, with a disgruntled expression and drooped wings, much different than the annoying bother he had been only fifteen minutes ago. Despite his façade, anyone could see he plainly wasn't happy in the large city.

"Look, IS THERE A POINT TO THIS?" Narc very nearly screamed. The ghost just chuckled. The others simply ignored him; Ray was distracted by one of the two other additional members to their party, a female Pikachu Narc could've sworn he'd seen before. He was plainly interested, though he seemed a little uneasy at the Pikachu's rather obvious flirting. It was even beginning to loose it's comedy appeal, and Narc had forced himself to tune it out ages ago.

Then there was the other one, a bad-tempered Houndoom, whom despite being a female, Narc mentally decided not to anger her while he wished to keep his appendix. She flanked them all on the left side, growling slightly whenever any of the other Pokemon in the middle got too far out of line.

It wasn't the first time it occurred to Narc they were being lead somewhere. He had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach; despite the idiotic sentences the Sableye seemed intent on spewing out whenever it even bothered to speak, he had a strange gleam in the back of his dull eyes. No, Narc definitely didn't trust that one.

The Houndoom was obvious; even someone as idiotic as the Sableye portrayed himself to be could tell she had the sentence 'I will murder people in their sleep for money' in Bounty-hunter regulation font stamped onto her forehead.

The pikachu was a bit more difficult. Despite her cheery exterior, which Narc wouldn't have seen any farther through on any normal occasion (Except, perhaps, to her rather supple shaped ligaments and soft fur), there just seemed something…wrong, about her. He wasn't sure what it was, or even how to describe it, but he still felt that one wasn't to be trusted.

Then, there was the Flygon. Out of the four, oddly enough, he seemed the most innocent; the strangely humored eyes and normally carefree demeanor seemed genuine enough. He didn't feel particularly bad either, and Narc wouldn't have expected foul play of him in any other circumstance, but the thick silver bracers around his neck, arm and tail spoke for themselves. One didn't get those except off someone powerful enough to own them; he still wasn't too familiar with human concepts, but he felt it difficult he got those from any human either.

All in all, they seemed a rather shady bunch, despite one the fact one was currently drooling on him and showing off a brick wall. He should look for a way to escape.

As soon as he figured out how to get away from the surprisingly strong grip of the idiot ghost.

Unfortunately, that seemed rather impossible as the ghost didn't seem to mind he was being scorched at nearly twice Narc's normal heat and was focusing all his attention either on the wall, or more likely, keeping him attached.

But mainly on the brick wall.

Narc stared at the wall blankly. It was plainly obvious it wasn't going to do anything, and now this was just getting tedious watching it. He attempted to move away from the ghost, only to be pulled back.

The Quilava gave a sigh, expecting to be staring at this blank barrier for the next fifteen minutes or so.

And was promptly surprised when a load "Thump" hit it, causing some of the weaker bricks to be pushed back slightly and some of the mortar to fall out.

The Sableye stared at it in confusion for a couple moments, the spark of intelligence entering his bejeweled eyes.

Then, suddenly, he steered Narc and consequently the rest of the entire bandwagon away from the wall.

"Not that brick wall, no good wall, other wall" he muttered, as an insane mantra. Narc paused, feeling as if he had missed something.

Ven, between avoiding the glances of the houndoom beside him (Who seemed a bit TOO interested in what he was doing, actually), stared at the wall as he passed by it. Something seemed really… off with it. Like whatever happened had something to do with him…

He shook his head. What were the chances of that?


	15. Information Unable to be Found

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 5**

**-**

Yeah, yeah, It's been a while. Well don't blame me, blame the Canadian school system, video games, and whatever hormone is responsible for chronic laziness.

**--**

**-**

"…What is this?"

Ryull stared at the piece of paper in his claws, then at the printer, then at the computer in which he knew the obnoxious program resided in.

'**A list of requests. Should they not be completed to my satisfaction, I will immediately dismantle the barrier surrounding Fenrir, instantly alerting every human military force on the Earth of Fenrir's existence. I trust you should have no problems with them.'**

Ryull paused, staring at the paper. "You wish for me to divine for you."

"**Yes. You have proven to have the ability to do so".**

Ryull crushed the paper in his claws. "I can't just do that. Each time I reveal the future to someone who will actually do something with the knowledge; it contorts twists and changes that destiny. I can't just GIVE it to you, as a military asset."

"**My decision is final. You may have sixty hours to perform all the tasks I have listed."**

Ryull just glared at the screen, his features contorting and shifting as he did so. Moments later, the Gengar was gone, and in his place was a dark-skinned human, wearing a black leather jacket and jeans, yet no shirt or underneath said jacket. Curiously, he wore no pants, but simply a primitive black silk loincloth that looked out of place with the rest of his modern garb. His eyes, however, retained their hypnotic, ghostly quality; nobody who knew the human's true form would doubt it for too long.

He uncrumpled the paper, and looked at what else was written on it. After a moment, he returned his gaze to the monitor. "And why do you need Jet's services?"

"**You do not require that information. You know the future."**

The 'human' balled his fist in anger, then promptly punched it through the computer screen. It cleaved through the technology like butter, causing a small spark of electricity in protest- then, suddenly, the entire system exploded in flame, consuming the plastic and even the wooden desk beneath it in seconds, and reducing it to a pile of cinders and melted scrap.

Ryull gave a small grunt of approval, did a heel-face turn, then walked out the door, the gears in his mind almost literally clicking. The program had been partially correct (And still was, unfortunately. The program has already made it apparent he made back-up copies of himself in several areas he couldn't touch), usually he would've known the answer days, months, or, much more commonly, decades or centuries before he even asked the question. Indeed, the only reason he ever asked was to keep the timestream running smoothly; to prevent paradoxes as apparently, the timestream doesn't take timetravel into account when showing visions of the future, unless said timetravel effected something in the present. Then it simply adapts.

But, for some strange reason, Ryull couldn't even tell the future as it was right now, let alone divine for some scrap heap. It was as if he had walked into a great fog bank; something had changed the outcome of the future, which happened all the time but took hardly half a second to re-calibrate in his head. This time, however, someone didn't want him to see the new deduction.

The dark skinned youth walked briskly through the dark alleys of the city he knew better than the back of claw, the length of his steps not matching up with the distance they somehow covered. It took him no longer than a couple seconds to reach the city's borders into the lush forest beyond. Normally, he would've simply Faded to the place he needed to go, but he needed the time to think. Pokemon didn't inhabit the forests surrounding Fenrir (Partially thanks to him), so he wouldn't be rudely disturbed.

Then again, he mused to himself, noticing the not-so-much subtle shadows of would-be assailants hiding among the bushes, as he summoned a small shadow ball in one palm.

…Perhaps what he needed was a distraction. He tossed the marble-sized piece of ectoplasm behind him, landing snuggly in the center of the bush they had been hiding behind.

The explosion could be heard for miles.

* * *

"Hm…what?"

"Myr…"

"What happ- GET OFF ME"

"Ak!"

SHING

"Sorry!" Orin chuckled a bit as his brother scrambled about slightly, pulling Jolteon quills painfully from his pelt. The Umbreon didn't seem to have quite as much of an imposing effect, now that it wasn't twilight and Jet wasn't watching him with cold amusement. It was rather refreshing, actually.

"What were you doing sleeping on top of me?" The Umbreon demanded.

Orin chuckled. "What, did you like it?- Simmer down" The Jolteon backed down, still grinning as the heckles on his opposite rose.

"No, I did not." The Umbreon finally said, after calming down slightly. "And I was wondering what demon-spawn of Giratina possessed you to sleep on top of me."

The Jolteon shrugged. "Dunno. I don't even recall falling asleep; maybe I rolled over or something and you were too thick to notice. Or, as I mentioned, perhaps you didn't object to having a hansom devil like me on top of you, as I hear you don't have much morals-" The Jolteon paused, blinking.

"Uh, Ceila, what are you doing?" He muttered after a while, to his sister, who was watching the two of them and drooling for no apparent reason.

"Hm, what?" The Vaporeon said, in a dazed tone. A moment later she shook her head, a small red blush running across her blue face, and muttered a small apology.

The Jolteon paused again. "Fangirl. Right. Well, onto matters that don't involve incest; despite how cute you both look when embarrassed…"

Both other eons glared at him, a prominent blush still stuck on the female's face.

Orin chuckled. "So, before we got interrupted by… something…" The Jolteon paused, scratching the back of his head, then winced as he felt a large bruise there. "Ouch… well, whatever we got distracted by, what were you saying back there?" Orin finished positively.

Jet grunted, noticing the sudden lack of professionalism and haste the Jolteon had earlier and the Vaporeon's noticeable comfort in his presence. So he had lost their fearful respect _already. _

He began slowly, attempting to recall the train of thought he had been following prior. "Have either of you had any contact with Kyle?"

Orin rolled his eyes. "Jet, dude, I've been attempting to get rid of anything tying me to the family, and Ceila's been trapped on some Celebi-forsaken island in the middle of nowhere. Neither of us particularly wanted to speak to that bastard anyway."

Jet growled slightly at his flippance, but composed himself quickly. "If you had, you might've figured out where the rest of the family is. Perhaps it didn't occur to you that someone we're related to might have connections to a wealthy human? Purebred Eevee are quite popular as pets for the rich human crowd."

Orin shrugged. "Maybe. Although you avoided the fact I wanted to CUT ALL TIES, with all of you. Well, except maybe Ceila…" The Jolteon muttered after a moment, placing his tail comfortingly over his sister.

"And Ceii of course. But I haven't seen her for a while." He mentioned again, after a moment's thought. "How is Ceii anyway?"

Jet rolled his eyes. "She's fine, I suppose. I guess anyway, I really didn't pay attention to who was who. Anyway, I think you shou-" The Umbreon paused, one of his ears immediately pricking up ask if he heard something in the distance. She shook his head after a moment, muttering to himself "Even he's not THAT bad. Couldn't be him."

Orin raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Couldn't be who?"

"Nobody." Jet growled slightly to emphasize the point he wasn't going to talk about it.

"In any case, I'll be able to bring you to Shira's residence. She's the most influential sibling of ours, and most likely to be able to help you. Come."

The Umbreon stalked off in what was seemingly a random direction. Ceila looked towards Orin questionably, who gave a shrug and followed.

* * *

"So." Tiris said, unimpressed, to their group of tag-alongs. From their rather meaningless tour, it was fairly obvious the plan was simply to lead them here; a barren-looking field, a fair distance from the city. She had a good idea of what they'd try now?

"Now whatever do you mean, Tiris?" The Flygon asked in a faux-innocent manner, cockiness returning to his voice since he had left the city. He, at least, knew she wasn't taken in even slightly. The Sableye made a slur gesture she was sure he thought was genius, but looked completely idiotic. The Pikachu gave a hasty glance between Ray and her teammates. The Houndoom looked profoundly uninterested, and washed behind an ear.

"I mean, you didn't lure us here for no reason. If you wish to kidnap or capture us, you will attempt it here, and we will struggle." Tiris said in a simple tone, as if it were an easy math problem. Narc gave an aggressive growl and broke out of the Sableye's grip, who hardly seemed to notice.

Ven and Timeria both had similar battling faces on, the latter taking on a clumsy battle stance while the former bared his fangs. Ray simply looked confused, though he got the gist of it and was looking threateningly at his supposed-captors.

"Okay, you got us." The Flygon admitted, the goofy grin still on his face. "To be honest, you have something we need. You, in particular. Tiris."

Tiris raised her eyebrow. "Oh? And what would that be?" She paused for a second, debating whether to mention something. Evidently, something won out. "And what is preventing me from teleporting out this minute, meaning all your work is for nothing?"

The Sableye grinned a sinister grin, a slight hissy chuckle breaking through his jaws, though it was slightly offset by the bead of drool that also lined the outer rim of his mouth.

The Flygon gestured at the cackling ghost. "Baou here has a very special ability, you see. It's a bit complicated, but essentially, he owns your shadows. So you can't move outside of his eyesight, otherwise they'll lock up and freeze you in place until we find you again. So teleporting isn't the best of ideas."

Tiris cocked an eyebrow. "I fail to see the significance of the patches of earth created by our mass blocking the sun's light from reaching the ground. But very well, what is it that I apparently have, that you need?"

The Flygon gave a small chuckle. "There's a very special disk, you see. Which contains information, of much interest to us. We would very like to have it back."

The Sableye hissed another chuckle again. The Houndoom continued to look bored. The Pikachu pretended not to hear, and was acting rather non-threateningly.

Tiris blinked once, then made a simple gesture with her hand as a disk in a clear case materialized. "This?" She said, offhandedly. The Flygon gave a slight grin, and nodded.

Tiris raised an eyebrow, and shrugged. "Take it. I'm not entirely sure why I kept it anyway, it's a relic from a Rocket base. Neither I, nor Sean, could break the codes on it though." She added, gesturing back at the increasingly perplexed trainer.

The Flygon blinked once himself, then shrugged, and stretched out a claw to take it.

Just as a dark-purple form materialized in the air, nabbed the disk with a triumphant "Yoink!" and disappeared as fast as it came.

The Flygon paused, obviously startled. He opened his jaw for a moment, then closed it, apparently haven forgotten what to say.

The Sableye rolled his eyes, glazed over once more though they were. "Ryull." He said simple, in a low husky voice, almost cave-man like.

"But…"The Flygon started. "Why would he… Omen sent us…" The dragon sighed.

"Back to base then, I suppose. Damn that Gengar, always screwing up everything…"

The Sableye shrugged, and suddenly, the ghost's shadow expanded into a massive circle, encircling everyone. Then, suddenly, all four of the would-be thieves dissipated into thin air.

Narc yawned.

"Okay, NOW can we go to that breeding center thingamajig?"

* * *

Ryull whistled jauntily, once again taking the forest route back to Fenrir, flicking the encased disk up and down as he went. Once again, he was in human form, and feeling rather good about his timely steal. He mildly remembered something about some other team vying for the disk, but he really didn't care anyway.

The ghost smirked as he reached the edge of the massive crater he had made earlier the same day, admiring his handywork. Everything was nice and incinerated; where there were once would-be ambushers, there were now neat little piles of ash.

Of course, that wouldn't have been near as much of an accomplishment if they all hadn't been fire types to begin with.

"Nice kill."

Ryull blinked, and turned around, looking rather surprised to see a gengar's Cheshire grin staring back. Once more, he knew THAT particular grin; he saw it about 40 of the time when he looked in a mirror. The only difference he could see between this newcomer was he was wearing a complex design of black draconic tattoos, looping around and over his dark purple body.

"Thanks. Sooo… time duplicate?" Ryull hazarded after a moment's thought. Ever since the time travel "incident" of 1918, he wasn't particularly concerned when different versions of himself started cropping up everywhere. Come and think of it, he thought he saw this one before.

"Year 2680?" He added, vaguely recalling the time of the other him he had met a while ago.

The tattooed gengar grinned larger, and shook his head. "2554. Close though. Anyway, just came to fix something." The ghost walked up to his human-skin kin, and patted down his baggy cloth leggings. After a moment's searching, he pulled out a simple ballpoint pen.

"Bingo." The gengar chuckled, then promptly incinerated the pen with ghostly energy.

"You'll thank me for that later, trust me. Oh, by the way, Rick Jhonns will score that home-run, Dr Jeckle and Mr Hide is not the worse game created since 1700, and yes, Mateo is gay. Some food for thought, considering you won't regain your time seeing for a while. Later." The tattoo clad ghost made a peace sign, then let out a strange sounding roar. Seconds later, the earth shook and a hole appeared in the space-time continuum, invisible to all but Ghosts, Psychics and Darks. Moments later, the new Gengar had disappeared, and everything returned to normal.

Ryull shrugged, then continued walking. In all honestly, that sort of thing happened every few months. He had a feeling whatever time screw the 2554 self was fixing was pretty wide-spreading. He felt sorry for the guy, really. Fixing time paradoxes was tiring work, even when you could traverse the seas of time itself.

Only fifteen minutes later would he realize he no longer was holding his stolen disk.


	16. Internal Error 401

-The Cores of Existence-

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 6**

Heya everybody. This chapter was originally supposed to be longer, but Nagimi's section ended up getting a bit too long, so I cut it off early to stop people from exploding from the chapter size. As result, the next chapter will probably be up sooner, considering I already have it all mapped up.

Toodles!

**-**

**--**

**-**

Ryull did not take being beaten nicely.

He never had, probably because him being beat was a physical impossibility, since he was normally able to see (Not even predict, but actually looks through the bounds of time to see what the future held) whatever his opponent would do. Of course, every time he changed time by doing something he shouldn't; Say, blocking a strike that he wasn't supposed to; time would re-evaluate itself, and he would know the revised version of the future near instantaneously.

Of course, the universe has a funny way of never filing out exactly as planned, and Ryull did find himself losing on several occasions, almost none he could never explain why. His fight with Omen, years ago, over who would be the leader of Fenrir was probably one of the betters in that regard; Omen simply strike with enough unrelenting strikes, power and unpredictability that Ryull simply hadn't the time to consult his future sight before getting pounded; of course, that strategy had been tried before, but until then, nobody had ever been strong enough to make it work.

Then, there had been the odd time when the future seemed to diverge for no apparent reason than to screw him up. He had no way to explain them, and they always infuriated him. Hell, once it even cost him a Golden fiddle.

…And then, there was the rare time when he was unable to call up the future that he was reminded he owed his impressive record to his ability to do so. Sure, he was still easily the strongest phantom on the Earth, excepting Giratina or Omen (If there was one who thought they could beat him, he invited them to try. Obviously, very few ever took him up on this challenge. And none ever won.)

Still, even though he resented each and every one of his sporadic defeats over his two millennia lifespan, he always had a certain degree of respect for those who defeated him; from the powerful Mismagius Omen, to the simple human child Jhonny, he admitted they deserved, in whatever form they may of done it, some respect for beating him.

And of course, Ryull never thought he would go through the same complex mindset when dealing with being outsmarted by himself. Of course, it was easier to understand being tricked by someone greater than him, due to actually BEING him, plus a few centuries. But still, that was embaressing.

Even more so, since logic dictated that if his future self robbed him blind NOW, later, when he actually became his future self, he would need to do the same.

The complexity of the situation actually led to Ryull slowing down his walking speed; only when he passed the gate into Fenrir did he wonder what he would tell the computer program.

He chuckled, looking at the gargantuan ruins that made up the city. The structure looked roman-influences, but also had a slight gothic, and in places, Asiatic flair. It was an archeologist's wet dream; A massive cathedral made up the center of the city, the top adorned with the strange fashioned ring that was accepted as the symbol of Arceus; Arceus worship was extremely rare, even in ancient times, and there weren't any known actual Cathedrals, which were known to be only built by humans. Considering Arceus was mainly only worshipped by some Pokemon, and several lunatic humans, a Cathedral dedicated to her would be the discovery of the century.

Then, of course, was the granite pyramid to the west, snuggled up against the northern cliff-face. Atop of it was what appeared to be a massive obelisk-turned-tower, with a single name carved into it over and over, all in different languages. The base contained a series of unreadable hieroglyphs, gradually ascending through ancient and lost tongues, until it climaxed at the tip in common, English lettering: the name "Ryuul".

Ryull chuckled to himself slightly, appreciating the true spelling of his name (Unlike the anglicized version archeologists decided was proper for him, after discovering his name inscribed on an ancient Hoenn sarcophagus. He resented them for it, and eventually killed them for it, though later decided he liked their spelling better.)

He chuckled slightly, dropping his Arabic human form in favor of his natural shape, then floated up to observe the civilization from above. Only slightly east of the south entrance, was a large concrete building that looked more like the remnants of an 1800's human city than an ancient ruin; a large, three-floored rectangular building, held up by columns, with wide steps leading up to it. It wouldn't look misplaced as a library in any large human civilization… were it not for the large coliseum-esc building fused into the back of it, adorned with massive statues of Sableye wearing various pieces of armor and each brandishing a different weapon.

Ryull cackled, then went on. He was somewhat tempted to bring some history-nut human here, just to see their brain explode from the apparent histological value the hidden city held. Of course, they would never think that the entire city was BUILT as a city of ruins, by ghost Pokemon with nothing better to do with their time.

Ryull grinned. Omen never liked them adding their own personal touches around the city, but couldn't do anything about it, seeing as the majority of them had been built before he came. The mismagius made his home in a nook off the side of the cliff, only a short distance from the gaping maw in the rock that was the entrance to Turnback Cave, and the afterworld.

And, of course, right in front of the cave, was the only real ruin in the entire city; a strange, small, sloped square pyramid, with an odd looking metal instrument atop of it. Strange runes were carved into the flagstones that built it, and it seemed to reach down into the infinite abyss of the afterworld itself. Which, come to think of it, it probably did.

They knew humans had offered sacrifices to Giratina there, perhaps the first sacrifices to the god of death he recognized. Perhaps that was why he chose this clearing for one of his entrances; nobody in Fenrir either knew, or cared.

Well, one had. Ryull scowled slightly, remembering the stitched-shut mouth of Promethius, as he flitted about the strange well. Everybody had thought the Bannette odd for making his home in the ruin, and even more so for having one-sided chats with it; Ryull personally thought there was a Spiritomb in there, somewhere. Ryull had thought of awakening it a couple times, but rationalized he liked being the oldest member of Fenrir, and the well looked at least two millennia old, probably more. And he had never heard of a Spiritomb being younger than the well it inhabited.

Ryull did a mental shrug, then made a beeline for the Library-like building. Not bothering to descend to ground level and enter through the door way, he quickly glided down to the roof, faded out, and phased through the rood, reforming once through the stone roof. He gave a yawn, before moving through the rows of bookcases (For indeed, as it looked, it was a library), until he entered a small nook of a room, where a quill, an inkwell, a typewriter and a half-written manuscript lied on the desk.

Ryull stifled a yawn (Though it was for show; he didn't yawn naturally, not having lungs), then looked at the manuscript, which was apparently written in ancient Czech. Ryull found himself having to stifle a laugh, as he translated the title.

"The Taming of the Shrew? Damn, Baou really does have weird tastes." The Gengar chuckled to himself for a moment, then turned to an opposite desk, where an unplugged computer looked forlorn and in disuse, covered in dust.

Ryull chuckled again, remembering Baou's volatile opposition to the idea of writing using anything but a Quill pen or Typewriter. The Sableye wasn't near violent enough to destroy the damned thing, but simply keep it in the back of his study, like the Gengar had hoped. As far as he could tell, it was the only other computer in the entirety of Fenrir; without it, he'd have to borrow Nagimi's laptop, and she never did anything for free.

…Or he could ask for one the human's computers…

Ryull shuddered at the thought of asking for a human's help in anything, while plugging in and booting up the fossil of a machine. Almost immediately, the screen flashed blue, only a tone brighter than the infamous Blue Screen of Death Ryull was happy to admit he didn't have anything to do with.

'**Do you have the disk?'**

"Do you have the disk?" Ryull repeated mockingly, in an immature higher-pitched voice. "No, I don't have the fucking disk. And if I did, I wouldn't give it to a jerkass like you."

The computer was silent for a second.

'**Commencing termination of Fenrir radio barrier.'**

Ryull paused for a moment.

Then shrugged, once again cleaving through the computer system with a Fire Punch. The melted remains sparked once or twice pitifully, then burst in flame. Ryull rolled his eyes, then snapped his claws, causing the embers to instantly extinguish.

Then, he grinned.

Looks like he was on a… Cyberhunt.

He chuckled.

* * *

Nagimi sighed slightly, as she polished the great alter in the center of Fenrir's Cathedral, watching her sad reflection. It was a small, almost mousy face, with what looked like a permanent coy look etched into it. A metallic, hard-looking growth sprouted from the side of her head, veering downward quickly and forming into what appeared to be a massive gaping maw, resting closed on her back.

Her fur with thin, and kept respectively neat. It was a pleasant shade of light orange, accenting her beautiful green eyes in a way that made her look too innocent to deny. She stood up bipedal, respite only being a couple feet tall, and although her hands resembled claws, they were nicely hidden and quite cute looking. Her feet were similar, obviously intended to be sharp talons, but were retracted and shaped in a way they looked more aww-inducing than fear-inducing.

Her figure was absolutely flawless, and it was rare she could ever walk past a male and not get noticed; usually, their eyes weren't the only organ that noticed she was around.

And it was all completely fake.

Nagimi sighed again, her reflection in the polished marble rippling as she assumed her true form; A sleek, vibrant purple creature, donning a large pointed hat, garnished with a vibrant red feather. In its way, it was also beautiful; around her long neck, was strung a necklace of sorts, all glowing with different strobe colors that confused and excited the mind. Her mouth was a slightly disturbing zig-zag type shape, but pleasant on it's own.

But, of course, her most noticeable feature was her great, green eyes; virtually unchanged from the shift from Mawile to Mismagius.

It was a pity HE didn't see her that way.

She let out a single quiet sob, unwilling to let tears pass through the makeshift tear ducts her ectoplasm was prone to forming when she got moody like this.

How ironic; Nagimi, the great seducer, a winding serpent taking advantage of the lusts of mortals to slowly ruin them from within. She had a purpous, to undermine the life of all those on earth who had a true one, in the face of her faux-existence that was the very being of a ghost on this wretched realm…

…Had fallen in love.

She sighed again, floating up towards the top steeple of the chapel she called home. Perhaps Ryull wasn't too far off, when he had asked her what kind of Succubus she was. True, perhaps she was too much of a romantic for her career… not counting the current object of her affections, she had fallen in love three times; all with mortals of various species and personalities.

She had varying levels of success with each. Her first crush, when she was but a young and meek Misdreavius, was a Buizel, on some remote island. She courted him in secret, taking the form of a rather cute-looking female counterpart Buizel, and showering him with affections. He way skeptical at first, mainly because he hadn't recognized her scent from the other Buizel he had seen.

But, after a while, he began to warm up. He told her stories of his life, to which she hung onto his every word. She began to be intoxicated by him, almost like he was a drug. When he had evolved, into a very similar looking, but much more physically powerful Floatzel, her own lust did nothing but intensify. At first, he seemed ecstatic at this change, being a male in his prime, with all the lusts of his age group. But soon enough, he started distancing himself; perhaps he began to question her secrecy, perhaps he noticed the strange gleam in the back of her eye.

Eventually, she had learned he had found another; some other Floatzel, from the same pod he was from. Apparently, they had been childhood friends who only recently met up again; and, already, she was pregnant.

Saying Nagimi was jealous would've been the ultimate understatement. Still, she held herself back, assured he would return to her…

…And yet, he never did.

She waited for months, with growing sadness in her heart. Eventually, her kit was born, and named. Thre three of them seemed happy and content.

And yet, the happier they were, the more distraught she was. She new he had forgotten her, and it had sent her into a depression not unlike the one she was currently expressing. Eventually, that sadness turned to rage… and then, she realized all she needed to do, was make the kit and the other female go away.

At that time, she disliked killing. It had always made her queasy, and feel hypocritical for some reason. So instead, while the female and the kit were out swimming, she resumed her natural form. Singing a song of demise, as was the signature move of her species, the clouds and winds stirred up. Within hours, she had conjured a tempest, and swept the both of them out to sea.

She had never known what became of them.

She expected him to return to her; but, for some strange reason, he did not. He stayed in mourning for many, many days. After nearly a month of this, she was starting to feel a tiny twinge of regret. Now, she still didn't earn his affections… and he was as distraught as she was.

But then, from another tragedy, came hope for him. Both his parents had been killed by Sharpedo; which was a common occurrence when large groups of the species traversed the ocean to other islands. While he was grown, and had been looking after himself for years, his sister had been a mere kit. So, he had taken another role in life; to act as father to his newborn sister, in place of his own kit, to which he was unable to be with.

And so he was happy again. Nagimi rejoiced at this; of course, now that he was happy again, and there was no other female, he'd surely choose her… wouldn't he?

And yet… he didn't. She appeared to him, in her old form (changed to compensate for age, of course), but he barely recognized her, and rejected all her advances.

Her anger grew once again.

Now turned bitter, she had realized he would never love her back. So, she decided he no longer deserved to be happy while she suffered; She flew off into the ocean, and re-routed the attention of ships, full of criminals bent on the capture and enslavement of wild Pokemon. She led them to his island.

And terror went rampant. She chuckled as everyone on the island was captured, either in small cages or traditional Pokeballs. The vegetation was cut or burned, to smoke out more of the creatures. She watched her love himself, die as he was heavily beaten by the villains, bloody and yet defiant, leap into the water to escape. And of course, be promptly devoured by the resident sharpedo, already drawn to the shore by the scents of blood.

She took a sick satisfaction at his demise, though she wept inside. Still, she felt hollow; perhaps her revenge wasn't quite complete. She found her lover's sister, playing innocently on an island. She ambushed her, utilizing her disorienting songs and abilities. Then, more maliciously than she thought she was capable of, slowly mutilated her; First, she plucked out the eyes, laughing as the blood torrented forth from the young creature.

…But then, something strange happened. A stone she had been playing with brushed her claw, and the young Misdreavus felt energy coarse through her. Her form changed, as did her powers, reshaping her into the much more potent Mismagius she was today, and…

…She wept. Perhaps the energy she had assimilated reawakened her senses, but she realized the wrong in she had done. She didn't crave revenge against him; why should he suffer as she did, by being with her?

Quickly, the new mismagius had prevented the death of the young Buizel that was his sister, and replaced her eyes with new ones, conjured from the remains of the old and her powers. Then, quick as she had arrived, she left the island, forever.

Her other two loves had similar stories attached; once, even she had gone insane out of her constant rejection, that she had murdered both the mate and kit in a particularly gorey fashion, using a sharp weapon. Upon returning, her new object of affection had mourned, and then later, killed himself.

Once again the mismagius sighed, tapping the stained glass in search of cracks.

And here she was, fallen into the same trap once again. Yet this time, the recipient of her admirations wasn't a mortal creature she had to fool with a guise, but a ghost also. Not only that, but the same species, and the leader of the team they called Fenrir.

"Omen…" She sighed, then turned away.

Maybe she wasn't cut out for this succubus business.

Meanwhile, a strange silverly being floated outside the chapel. Its glowing eyes saw through the cathedral's walls with ease, and locked onto the Mismagius' form.

'**Name: Nagimi' **it said in a neutral, mechanical tone.

'**Species: Mismagius. Abilities: Strong telepathy, ability to assume several guises of other beings. Also posses normal ghost abilities. Master of Attract. Has been known to use powerful elemental moves when nessisary. Hidden Power Element: Unknown. Threat level: Relativly minor. Commencing termination.'**


	17. Internal Error 402

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 7**

**-**

**--**

**-**

Baou grimaced as he dipped his quill into the inkwell, then onto a new sheet of pale parchment. Like he expected, Ryull had already came, and went, as he could tell from the smoking computer.

The sableye paused for a moment, the sapphires he had for eyes glinting in the darkness as he apparently thought. After a moment, he chuckled a deep, guttural sounding chuckle, as he made horizontal five lines on the page, only a few centimeters apart, parallel to eachother. He finished by making a squiggly line at the left side of the page, the well known Treble clef.

Once again, he paused, then began making small black dots on the musical staff he had created; after a few moments, he paused; then, above the staff, he write the title in spidery, thin and neat lettering.

"Still Alive…" He whispered, before glancing at his wall with a chuckle, fully aware of the metallic creature perched outside it.

Said creature was busy examining him through its mechanical eyes, muttering in a droning tone unbefitting of something with a duck-like bill.

'**Name: Baou' **itannounced in its standard, computer-drawl.

'**Species: Sableye. Abilities: Teleportation, general ghost abilities. Data largely incomplete due to dark immunity to psychic probing. Hidden Power Element: Unknown. Threat Level: Unable to determine; Proceed with caution.**

* * *

At the end of Fenrir was a great cave, decorated with massive carvings of a demonic-looking Umbreon's three heads. To many, officially, it was the 'Gate of Mists', 'Death's door', 'The Great Gate of Fenrir', or 'The Final door'.

In Fenrir, it was more commonly referred to as either 'The door' or, when Ryull had been reprimanded for not showing Giratina the proper respect, briefly is was known to be called 'The Grand High Gate of all Magisty, Illusions and the almightly Omega spiritual grandmaster high warchief and the deveiver, Giratina.'

To Glysses, it was simply home.

The great monolith stood, unmoving, unbreathing and unblinking at the gaping entrance, looking rather like a lifelike statue. She stood at a great twelve feet high, dwarfing nearly any human and still small enough to move with some fluidly around the entrance. Her single eye stood staring directly forward, looking for any signs of danger.

She highly doubted there would be any, but kept incredibly alert in any case. She was a Dusknoir; a powerful creation of Giratina. She was a shock troop, a specialized sentry assigned to the gateway of perhaps the most important artifact on earth; the gate between life and death.

So she stood. As she had stood for years; as it was, she had not left her post but once in a previous five years. Not, to say, she hadn't encountered any difficulties for five years; There were always random wild Pokemon that somehow manage to evade all of Fenrir's sensors, visitors to the caves which she had to check clearance (Even Omen and Ryull, perhaps the highest ranked spirits to pass through the gate, were routinely stopped to properly identify them, despite it being incredibly obvious), and of course, assaults by Promethius and the Demonstrae.

She needed not sleep, nor rest of any other kind. She required no drink, or food or other fuel; all the ectoplasmic energies to sustain her phantom body were provided by the gaping maw behind her. She was a relatively new Dusknoir; She was born a Duskull roughly two centuries ago, when the majority of the current Dusknoir had been bred for the famous Duskclops army of Gon Quin Serai, nearly five hundred years ago, but she had proved herself more capable than any of them.

She was unmovable.

She was indomitable.

She was indestructible.

And nothing, no force of this or any other earth, nor any emotion or other being of any kind, would ever change her honor and duties to her cause.

It was who she was.

A small, silvery duck-shaped being watched from a face distance, taking in the body and physical identifications of the creature from afar. After a second, it repeated its report out loud.

'**Name: Glysses. Species: Dusknoir. Abilities: Trick Room, several powerful physical abilities. Can use explosion in times of dire need. Incredible endurance. Apparently immune to pain. Threat level: Medium high.**

* * *

A small, metallic waterbird observed the phantom from afar. The violet being it had it in its optical sensors was none other than Omen, the current leader of the entire Fenrir organization. The small robot almost twitched in excitement; While most AI weren't capable of such reactions, this creation wasn't part of a typical AI program.

Slowly and surely, the metallic being activated the sensors contained within its core, activating the psychic abilities passed down from the mother program in order to invade the mind of this creature without it being aware of it. Already, the rest of the main group had been scanned and logged, with the exception of the Sableye, whose Dark typing gave him immunity to the probing. That conflicted with data the program already had, as its telepathic abilities were known to work on anything, regardless of typing or mental barriers, but it was a dynamic program and moved on when it realized it would not get any data from the Sableye.

The AI program felt a connection with the electron disturbances within the AntiMatter that made up Ectoplasm, and was essentially the ghost's version of a mind. It prepared to open it, sending magnetic and discrete telepathic pulses that would be bounced back, transferring copies of the memories and thoughts of th-

…All thoughts of the program finally ceased, as it found itself irreparably damaged and unable to process.

Omen glanced down at the wreckage of metal and plastic with cold indifference, the remnants of the Shadow Ball still evaporating from the casing of the being. He was rather unfamiliar with electrical devices; That was Ryull, and theoretically Baou's, department.

Omen paused for a second, scanning the area for more of the strange metallic invaders; he scowled when he recognized three of them; one outside the Cathedral, one outside the Library, and the third right outside the Gate itself.

The Mismagius paused, the phased out, locating the presence of the foreign devices by the gaps in the perpetual musk of ectoplasm that hung around the entire city like a veil.

He appeared by the first one, outside the grand Gateway, slamming a claw into its back. Instantly, the mechanical being slagged inward from incredible heat, deforming into a small white puddle after a couple seconds. The moment the robot could no longer hold its form, Omen disappeared once more, reappearing outside the library.

This time, he didn't even lay a hand on the creature, but simply ripped it apart using psychic energies. Moments later, the robot stationed outside the statue-decorated structure was resembling a pile of pale white confetti. Omen paused for a second, before summoning a black hole underneath the pile, causing it to vanish. Then, once again, he disappeared.

Finally, reappearing outside the Cathedral area, he immediately thrashed out a claw, severing the head of the being from its main body. Still holding the head in claw, he reached out with the other, as it sparked with static electricity for a couple seconds; Moments later, the clouds gave a great rumble, as a massive flash of light that would've blinded any organic creatures was emitted by the heavenly bolt of electricity that descended onto Omen's paw, instantly redirected into the machine's headless body and causing it to explode into non recognizable fragments.

"O-omen?" He heard after a second, as a tentative whisper. He turned around to see the form of Nagimi looking at him with big eyes, as if she were regarding him for the first time in her life. "What's happening?" She said after a moment.

"Nothing to concern yourself with, Nagimi." The male phantom responded, tossing away the head of the creature.

"Become more aware. That device has been scanning your mind for at least twenty minutes, less than twenty meters from you. Continued failure to do so will not be tolerated." The phantom began to fade away, but paused as he heard her speek once more.

"Omen…" She said after a while, with what looked like…sorrow? In her eyes. He paused in puzzlement, staring slightly and wondering what could possibly cause the seductress to become depressed.

Nagimi blinked for a second, then turned away slightly when she noticed he was staring at him. She fumbled with the red feather tucked in her cap, (Which, Omen noted, was looking somewhat frayed and torn, probably in needing of replacement) "Yes…I'll try, Omen." She said, with a sigh, as her shape changed and warped to become the small metal creature that was a Mawile, before walking away slowly.

Omen watched her for a second, then nodded. "Good."

He disappeared.

At that moment, the eyes of the silvery metallic duck head once again glowed with an eerie yellow light, announcing in a monotone; '**Name: Omen. Species: Mismagius. Abilities: Extreme control of elements. A vast array of variations of common ghost abilties, incredible speed and telepathic sensitivity. Capable of copying shapes of orangic creatures by viewing them. Threat level: Extreme. Termina-**

The metallic report was cut off as it was crushed by a metallic foot. Nagimi sighed, looking at the remnants of the robot's head.

Then, walked away, head drooped.

* * *

Narc gleefully ran through the busy city streets, elated. After that frankly boring encounter with four extremely irritating people, (The pikachu was cute though, and he'd hit the Houndoom, but somehow doubted she'd be very receptive) he had been incredibly bored. Eventually the rest of the group had gotten tired of his whining, and finally let him go to the damned breeding center.

Of course, Ven had said that with a smirk, no doubting add 'if you can find it' in his mind. Truthfully, Narc finding just about anything in a human city was a tall order; Hell, Narc didn't bother to hide the truth, sometimes he got lost in his old Clan camp, which was several times smaller.

Still, he knew he could find this center, with no real difficulty. The reasoning? Despite Narc's unimpressive sense of location, there was one thing that he could always find, and that was a female in heat. And, if the sickly sweet aroma permeating the area were anything to go by, there were a lot of them in this center.

Narc had to physically restrain himself from giggling… well, giddily. The idea of so many females, a good number of them in heat, and those that weren't might as well be.

If humans were good for only one thing, ideas such as this were it.

The Quilava grinned as he rounded a corner, the small building and fenced area coming into view. He chuckled slightly, noting it was a metal face, made from a grin of thick metal wires, a type of fencing humans were fond of. Fortunately, they provided little difficult for his modest climbing abilities.

Narc chuckled as he came face-to-face with the fence, small white claws fully retracting from his paws to make the climbing easier. Let no mere fence be a barrier to Narc-

BZZZUT

-…issus…

Ow.

Narc twitched once, before noticing a small sign affixed to the fence. While he still couldn't comprehend the strange and mysterious runes humans used for communication (Not for lack of Tiris trying to teach him; he simply didn't care in the slightest), the zigzag shape with a circle around it spoke for itself.

Narc paused for a second, regarding the stubborn fence. So, he couldn't climb it without getting severely electrocuted.

He shrugged. He supposed it still didn't rank up there with the insane stuff he overcame in order to get close and intimate with a female, as he looked around for a tree, or something he could climb to leap over the fence.

He noticed something snickering, and turned with an eyebrow cocked to see a bedraggled Houndour snickering at him.

"In no good, ya' see, guvna?" He spoke, growling most of his words through the sniggers. Narc rolled his eyes; he hated talking to houndour. They had the annoying habit of every clan having different 'accents', and it made it much more difficult to understand another clan after being used to a normal one. Why could they just talk normally?

He rolled his eyes, remembering the long lecture a houndoom had once given him on the importance of a cryptic, slightly customized version of speaking per clan. He honestly didn't remember any of it. Though the 'dour next to him, he recalled, was extremely attractive, that he remembered. He smirked.

And the night afterwards, of course.

He vaguely noticed the houndour next to him was still talking. Seeing as it was plainly male, he didn't see exactly why he should keep listening, but did so anyway.

"So yah guv, ther' be a net up der too. Te stop dem flyers, righ? Plente' strong by ma' 'econking. Me pal Geros tr' e' did 'once, e' got o' there, but da' 'ence still ectricutes o' there, ri? Poor, poor 'ad Geros…"

The houndour hung his head in sadness for a few moments.

Narc blinked.

"I have no idea what you just said, you ugly street cretin." He said with more manners than one would expect for a statement like that.

"But I take it there's a net. Oh well, I'll find a way in. Later, fleabag." Narc turned around and walked off. After a few seconds, he chuckled at his carefully placed insults. Obviously, if he couldn't understand the hound, neither could the dour' right?

Meanwhile, the houndour he had been talking to made a sad grunt, turned around, and walked away, tail between his legs.

Minutes later, Narc grinned. He had the perfect plan.

The way he saw it, there was only one way to enter the pen without hitting fence, and that was through the small little human hut built into the side of it. Every so often a human would come in, chat for a bit, then leave; occasionally, they would leave, or take, one of the Pokemon from the pen.

Narc, with the logical part of his mind (despite it being difficult for that part to work, nearly swarmed with hormones. He had already tried more obvious methods his boiling testosterone had been more fond of, such as burning it down, hitting it with a hard rock enough times, and using a sharper rock to cut through it. He stopped when he realized it was fire proof, tougher than it looked, and sharp rocks aren't particularly different from the normal variety), had deduced that there must be a gap entrance from the hut, into the pen.

So all he had to do, was get in the hut, get out the back door, all without the humans finding out and spoiling his fun.

For a moment, Narc's formidable mental barriers broke down and he giggled, quickly stopping himself after a few seconds. There'd be time for giggling later, when he was nearly drowning in the sea of females, all pleading for him…

…He grinned, then mentally slapped himself for day dreaming again. Focus.

…Then he began wondering why he could've just pestered that human he hung out with every so often to bring him in. What was the name? Trainer? Bah.

Too late now, anyway, finding him again would be difficult. As would tearing himself around from the luscious pheromones in the air, actually, beckoning him in…

Bah. Narc shook his head slightly. What was he waiting for any-

Narc paused, then grinned as he saw exactly what he needed. An elder-looking male human, with snowy looking hair, squinting and looking as if he were nearly blind. Absolutely perfect.

Narc grinned, then focused for a second as his flames withdrew themselves. He felt himself pant slightly, from the combined effort of resisting the potent pheromone mixture in the air and pulling back his flame, which increased his blood pressure, but fought it back. Then, he made himself cozy next to the human, attempting to look as pathetic and pet-like as possible.

In retrospect, he assumed he looked quite like Ven.

The two entered the hut quite uneventfully, as the man was apparently unaware of the fire type keeping up to his heels. He seemed to be somewhat wealthy, which probably helped with that air of detachment.

Eventually, the two came up to a nice-looking wooden desk, on a blue tile flooring. A young, brown haired man was at the desk.

"Good day, Mr Goodwin!" He said, in false cheerfulness that Narc had long attributed to humans.

"I assume you're here to pick up your little Meowthe, then." The young man added. The elder nodded slightly. "Yes, I would please. Has she produced any kits?"

The younger grinned once again, and nodded his head. "Yes, two little ones, both male. Hybrids with a Growlithe though, I suppose you don't mind…" the younger trailed off slightly, almost nervously.

But the elder waved him off with a chuckle. "No matter, Jeremy. I am of the belief a larger genepool does wonders to a Pokemon's immune system, and what not."

The younger, apparently Jeremy, sighed slightly in relief. "That's good to here, Goodwin. So, will you be dropping by your Quil-" Jeremy paused, looking down at Mr. Goodwin's feet, where there had been a fire type one moment ago.

"That was odd, I thought I saw a…." He muttered. "Well, no matter. I'll go get her for you, then". Jeremy walked out.

Meanwhile, Narc was snickering, hiding in a corner as the young man walked out, then quickly scampered after him, still staying hidden. They passed through a doorway, into a long hall. Narc blinked at the other doorways, and mysterious large cages scattered here and there, but followed nonetheless outside, and grinned as the Pheremones hit him full force again as the door opened fully to outside.

Then he paused, pupils increasing, as he felt a massive static charge in the air.

And with that, all the lights in the nearby skyline died.


	18. Trojan Virus Infection pt1

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

Been a while, eh? Well, hope this makes it up to you. An extra large chapter, eh?

Just a heads up, I'll be leaving on a ten-day vacation by thursday, so there may be a bit of a wait for the next chapter. But hopefully less than this wait.

Later.

B.O.D.

**Chapter 8**

**-**

**--**

**-**

Ven grinned as he breathed in the city air. Cyanville was a very new, sleek city, and had very few factories; It still lacked an electrical plant, as all power was imported from its sister city, Mauville. He didn't recall having been here before, which was a bit odd, considering he used to travel all over Hoenn with Mr. Stone while he was still alive.

Ven felt a small pang as he remembered the man's untimely demise. Even worse, he learned about it from a newspaper; he hadn't even been in time to attend the funeral. Ven had known his master didn't have long, but he still thought he'd get a couple years before he fell to old age.

Still, he supposed he had to get used to a new life. By now, the old man's fortune would've been split up among his shareholders, or more likely, his son Steven. Ven had only met Steven twice; he was a decent man, if a bit jittery. He didn't seem to enjoy taking money from his father though, which was strange, but Steven always seemed the earthy type.

Either way, it was nice to get out and see the rest of cities aside from the homes of the ultra rich and powerful; Strangely enough, the people that had the most ability to customize their establishments, had ones the most uniform. Very few colors; a lot of cream, light browns and such. The more eccentric of the lot usually had a room with their collection, of whatever they decided to collect. Ven found this habit a bit odd, although that was probably because he was more than wary of his master's collection of rare stones; Quite a few of them could cause him to evolve, and he was quite fine with himself as it was. And he rather disliked the colors he'd be if he was a Jolteon, Flareon or Vaporeon.

Cyanville seemed to be a pleasant town. Ven was quite acquainted with Mauville, which was perhaps filthiest city in all of Hoenn (In many different ways), except perhaps Lilycove. Still, that was typical of a country's capital, and on the bright side, it had the best anti-crime systems in existence, plus it generated 70 of all of Hoenn's electricity.

So Ven was pleasantly surprised when he discovered Cyanville seemed to be little more than a giant village; it was a clean, wholesome-seeming city, and he'd yet to see a large power generator in the entire city; everything seemed wired in from Mauville.

Ven yawned slightly, then grinned when he saw a particular store. It wasn't anything in particular, it looked like more than a nick-kack shop.

Still, Ven knew it as a chain he himself started. The gimmick was, simply, it was manned by Pokemon, intended to sell to other Pokemon; it was startlingly productive.

Perhaps timing had something to do with that; It opened the day after a bill was signed by Hoenn's legal legislation, giving civilized Pokemon every right as human, as long as they were registered in a public registry. Perhaps not quite as far as he wanted, but somewhere, nonetheless.

The fact that an Alakazam, who would've easily been able to crush the minds of every human who disagreed, had proposed the law, probably helped things.

Ven thought briefly about entering and buying something, to help business, but decided against it. He still forgot he didn't have the master anymore; No master, no money.

And that Sean kid that he was sticking around with was probably broke himself.

So Ven continued on his way, keeping himself busy by looking at the various stores, glad he had managed to get away from the others. Narc had left earlier, presumably to attempt and fulfill his perverted lusts, and it wasn't too much harder to separate from the rest afterwards. He wanted a little time on his own, to think.

Not to mention the human irritated him, the Tentacool and Kadabra made him uneasy, and he was still unable to look Timeria in the eye. The fact she wasn't the worst looking aesthetically probably didn't help that much.

Ah well, either way, it didn't really matter much anyway. He continued on his voyage, looking at the city's coming and goings. The streets were busy, and yet not crowded like he was accustomed to seeing in Mauville and Rustboro. He also noted he had only seen a couple automobile roads, traveling through parts of the city, which was pleasant. Automobiles had only started getting a bit more popular, and a lot of the larger cities had changed some of their larger walking alleys into full-fledged roads because of it.

Still, the numerous forests and habitats of Pokemon who didn't take destruction of their homes well had prevented a mass-network of roads, and the automobiles weren't the best accustomed to off-road travel. So they stayed in limited number, generally only belonging to people who traveled often through a few closeby cities.

Even so, Ven was pleased to see a city that rejected the mechanical behemoths as a way of getting around. If the fact the smog they kicked up made him sneeze from yards away wasn't bad enough, they weren't exactly the safest things for everyone involved. Damned metal deathtraps.

The streets, as they had only been made months previously, were shiny and new, but looked almost old-fashioned, in a type of cobblestone. Typical Mauvillian lanterns hung along the streets, ready to pick up where the sun would leave off. Mauvillian lights were a site to behold; they were potent enough to light a city until it was as bright as the day, and every star was hidden. Mauville truly was the city that never sleeps.

Of course, that meant there were a lot of shadows, in alleys where lights couldn't be hung. Those were often refuges of Houndour, who hid in the alleys and stalked out only at night, taking whatever they want. Ven once had a chat with one of the guard Houndoom that had protected his master's manor, and was surprised to learn all such packs had an eerie culture all their own.

Every pack was defined simply by having an Alpha; a Houndoom that could command the respect of all the rest in the pack. He explained that it wasn't, always, the strongest member that was the Alpha; It was simply the most intimidating one. It wasn't the people the Alpha COULD beat, it was the people that refused to fight him. It was a bit complex, but it made sense after a while.

Anyway, this Alpha was their king. He received all food that was obtained; Through theft, hunting or whatever; and took his share, before distributing whatever he decided was fair to the rest of the pack. The Alpha was almost always cruel and violent, as only with the fear that inspires, can he control his pack. A lenient leader would quickly find several, less lenient members who wouldn't be at all afraid of him, and would quickly beat him into submission for first food choices.

Other than the first cut of the rations, however, the Alpha had pretty much every other possible ability. He got his pick of mate, no matter what, and was free to change it whenever he wanted. Obviously, that would only apply within his own little clan, but it was well enough. If an Alpha desired a partner from another clan, he would either make do without, or forcibly 'recruit' that partner into his own.

It was all well and good, if extremely primitive to Ven's ears. It was essentially a step-back from what he was aiming for; Pokemon acting wild, out of the wild. It was things like that that helped the many, many humans into thinking Pokemon were mindless animals, and to be treated as such, which he completely loathed.

Was it so much to ask for the Pokemon residents not to KILL EACHOTHER while the humans are watching?

Ven sighed, then perked up his ears as a small sound reached him. It was a pathetic sort of whine, emanating from one of the narrowest, darkest alleys of the city.

Ven paused for a second. Obviously, going into a dark alley wasn't the best of ideas…It was how he had been captured by the rockets in the first place.

But whatever was making the sound seemed hurt…

Ven sighed, then bounded off into the Alley.

Eevee were fortunate to have decent night vision, much better than the solid blackness of human's night vision, so he didn't have to go too far to see what was mewling in pain. He blinked as he realized it was a Houndour, female, and quite like the ones he was thinking about only a moment earlier. She was in very bad condition, Ven noticed with a sinking gut.

The poor canine was covered in tiny scratches, most of them oozing blood. A couple larger gashes covered her legs, and there was a long rip along her side.

Ven clicked his tongue slightly, and hung his head. Obviously, he had been a bit too late… The Houndour was already gone.

Then, suddenly, the canine's head rose, looking at him with pleading eyes. He blinked, and jumped slightly. She attempted to rasp something, but the words were lost in her throat.

"Don't try to talk" The Eevee said, calmly, looking over her injuries. None of them appeared to be particularly deep, luckily, and she only had a couple minor broken bones. Her worst risk was of bleeding to death, or infection, luckily. Otherwise, she just appeared to be tired.

Ven sighed in relief, his snowy pelt glowing brightly for a second as he extended his sympathy for the poor creature into pure energy.

"It'll be alright." He said soothingly to the Houndour, who nodded slightly. He flinched slightly as she extended a dirty limb, touching him on the shoulder, but didn't brush it away.

A few minutes later, a globe of pure energy descended from the heavens, and fused with the wounded Canine. Before Ven's eyes, her wounds reversed themselves; Skin reappeared, and folded back on itself. Flesh had a random period of growth, filling in the gaps and sterilizing it momentarily.

A few seconds later, the Houndour looked in perfect health, if still a bit filthy and tired. She gave Ven a grateful smile, and withdrew her paw, before just sitting there, resting for a while.

A few minutes later, she spoke a single word.

"Perdita."

"Pardon?" Ven said, blinking. He supposed she still had some dust in her throat.

"Perdita. It's my name. And you are…?" She said in a calm voice. As far as Houndour went, she was rather soft-spoken, and without the accent the clan members were known for.

"Oh, err, I'm Ven." He responded after a moment.

"So…what happened?" He continued a second later, then mentally winced. That was a bit blunt, and he doubted she would be up to talking about it.

"It's fine." She said, as if knowing what was going through his mind. She sighed slightly.

"I ran away. That's what happened."

Ven blinked. "Erm… would you like to elaborate, or…"

Perdita gave a small grin. "You're a bit cute, you know that?" She said casually, then returned to a somber expression. "Alright, fine… Here's what happened."

Perdita spoke for a while, while Ven nodded. Apparently, she had attracted the attentions of her Clan's leader for some reason, and had been chosen to be his mate for whatever period of time.

That was fine enough, Ven could understand that much. Apparently, the clan leader in question was a complete scumbag, and one of the worst beings to set paw upon planet Earth. After only a couple days had passed, she had enough, and tried to run.

Unfortunately, she was tailed by several other pack members. She managed to outrun them, though just barely, and suffered a lot of wounds in the process. Although, she explained, some of the cuts were from her 'mate' the night before. Eventually, she was too tired to keep running, and just collapsed in this alley.

"So… what do you plan to do now?" Ven asked curiously.

Perdita sighed. "I don't know… the pack's the only life I've known… And they'll hunt me down if I stay in the city, so I suppose I'll have to leave…"

Ven's ears twitched awkwardly, as he had a small mental battle with himself. On one hand, he rather disliked Houndour and their evolution. They were ruffians by nature, couldn't grasp the concept of passivity, and completely ignored anything that wasn't bigger than them, and that impression was hard to forget. Not to mention they were filthy, Perdita not being an exception here, and a little…

…scary. Ven had to resist a small shudder when he saw the well-developed fangs in Perdita's mouth; perhaps it was a old instinct of Eevee to run from things like that, but he couldn't help it. He didn't like things that could, and probably would, hunt him down and eat him for prey. He was quite glad that carnivorous Pokemon weren't exempt from the "No violence" rule the new law had included. Those that protested were shot down by the fact that no currently known Pokemon are explicitly carnivorous; All of them are omnivorous to some degree, and could certainly go by on a diet of berries and fruit, and maybe some protein supplement, or even from pre-prepared steaks or meat, raw or not.

"W-well…" He said after a while, thinking carefully. Yes, he really didn't like Houndour, and even less their evolution, but...

He sighed. "Me and a couple friends travel around a bit. Technically, we belong to a trainer, but he doesn't really do any trainer-y stuff, so we can basically do what we want. If you want, you could…come with us..." He muttered.

Perdita blinked, then grinned. "Really? W-wow then… thanks, I think I'll take you up on that…thanks, thank you very much." The Houndour leapt over and hugged the small albino, who fidgeted uncomfortably.

Fortunately for Ven, the hug ended soon. Unfortunately for him, it was ended by a stream of fire, emitted from a small black canine, smirking at the two of them.

Perdita's eyes widened, even as she absorbed the flames through her heat-retardant fur.

One of the new coming Houndours smirked. "Now wha' we 'ave 'ere?" One said, his works heavily (and rather artificially) accented. Ven's heart sank even further; that just further proved they were pack Houndour.

He quickly looked at the other end of the alley, and was depressed to find another Houndour leering at him through it.

They were trapped.

Ven sighed. Only one thing for it, then.

Quickly charging a Shadow Ball in his maw, he shot it at the Houndour that had released the flamethrower, hitting him squarely between the eyes.

Obviously, the canine was unused to this, and shook his head disoriented. Ven rushed up to him, locking his maw on the shin of the creature, then quickly sweeping the other three legs with his tail, causing the Houndour to collapse oddly to the side.

While the Houndour growled at him, he didn't take into account his partner, who released a stream of fire that scorched the back of his fur. Ven growled, vaguely worried about the state of his fur, but pushed back that thought before rushing back at that Houndour, claws glowing with the power of Trump Card.

This Houndour seemed more skilled, sneered and feinted to the side, before snapping at his neck and pressing him to the ground. Ven yelled in protest, as his side was clawed. He screamed as another pair of jaws, presumably the other canine, latching onto his tail, causing waves of pain to soar through it.

He struggled a bit more, then growled up at the Houndour, before spitting a small golden ball from his maw at the canine.

Despite not usually doing much damage, the ball of condensed energy was rather bright and dazed the dark type when shot in his eyes, causing him to slacken his grip. Ven quickly freed himself, pulling his tail painfully from the surprised jaws of the other Houndour, before paws glowing golden again as he struck the canine's face with a pair of swipes.

The other Houndour, after recovering himself and spitting out some spare tail hairs, Quickly ran forward and bit tightly down at the irritating white thing, surprisingly managing to catch it. Ven screamed as the sharp fangs dug into his chest, red stains blossoming from his fur. He had the vague recollection of Perdita looking away quickly, and running off before being intercepted by the other Houndour, before it all went black.

- - -

Ven awoke groggily. He blinked as he looked himself over, relatively undamaged.

He supposed he must've used wish without noticing it; He did that every so often.

The stood up, then promptly winced, looking at one of his legs. It was at a slightly funny angle; It didn't look broken, but it was certainly jarred. He blinked again, looking around the area for a clue of what he just did.

It came back to him with the force of a truck, of what happened. The scents in the air were strong enough he could almost choke; He could almost sense the fear in the air. As it was, he smelt the odd combination of cinders and sweat he always did when fire Pokemon fought. He spat bitterly. That Houndour had been defenseless, and he was helpless to try and save her… It was all his fault too, if he hadn't wanted to stick around, they could've left by now.

His ears perked up, as he smelt something. He sniffed again to make sure, then shot off like a bullet, following the scent.

It was, quite obviously, Perdita's scent. Usually it was difficult to differentiate the different scents of different species, especially pack ones, but something about her's stuck out. He wasn't sure what it was, but that, combined with his drive, and guilt, made the scent trail rather easy to follow.

He made his way along the back alleys of the city, rarely passing through the main road. He quickly ran across the alleys, under a fence, through a small, uninhabited building to the other side, through another fence, past the next through alleys, take a left, go straight again, continue past the various boxes…

At some point, Ven was beginning to wonder how the scent trail was still so strong.

It took him a moment to realize it wasn't. He had lost it a fair few minutes ago, and was just running on the memory.

He backtracked a little bit, then cursed, noting it really did disappear. Presumably it was still their, but the city smells, other Houndour and the wind must have masked it. His nose being unaccustomed to canine scents probably didn't help with that.

Suddenly, Ven growled. What the hell was up with this?

He was captured by the rockets, for several months. Beaten cruelly, kept in tiny chambers with a dozen other Pokemon. He only managed to escape, to learn the only family he ever had was dead, and he could never go back to the way he lived.

And now, he tried to help someone in need, only to get beaten and make things worse for them to!

He ground his paw angrily. He'd never done anything bad in his life. He'd opened relations between humans and Pokemon, gave to charity when possible, opened businesses to a previously underestimated type of beings. What did he do to deserve this?

What did he do to deserve… Mia…

He growled again, and this time shot a shadowball into the darkness. There was a loud thump, as it collided with a wooden crate.

Ven glared silently at the box, as if it were somehow the cause of his problems; He charged up another shadowball and tossed it at the box, making a small scorch mark; He charged a third and tossed it, landing in the direct center of the last scorch and expanding it.

He sighed. His Shadowball technique had always been weak, even if he was good at aiming.

He he stood up, though his ears still drooped downwards. He had failed, it was that simple. He had tried to help someone, and it had only made things worse.

He sighed, and walked towards the street. He supposed he would meet again with Sean and the rest… Still, it was just unfair, really really unfair…

He growled and spun around, tossing a much larger shadow ball at the previous crate. It hit with a dull thud, and plenty of smoke, which cleared seconds later to reveal a broken crate top.

"Please master, I'm sorry, sorry sorry! They snuck up, I couldn't see them, and then I dind't want to come out be-" A small, black creature blinked his bright yellow eyes.

"You're not master…" It said simply, an eye quirked as if it were confused. "You aren't any of the others, are you?"

Ven paused. "Uh, no, I don't think I am…" He said unsurely, not knowing what quite to make of it. It was a shuppet, that was obvious; Occasionally, some would pass by on some minor mischief during the autumn months; but he couldn't understand what it was doing in a crate, why it didn't just phase through, and who 'Master' and 'The Others' he referred to were.

The tiny ghost breathed a sigh of relief (Or, at least it resembled one, as Ven assumed it didn't have lungs). "That's good to know. Name's Shu, who are you?" The Shuppet chuckled idly to itself on its little rhyme.

Ven blinked again. "Err, I'm Ven. Nice to meet you…Shu…" He sighed. "Rhyme not intended, I suppose."

Shu chuckled again. "Good show of it too, I was getting a bit cramped in that box. With all that commotion outside, I thought I might get out soon."

Ven felt his heart skip a beat. "Wait…you heard people around here recently? Did you hear which direction they were going?"

Shu scoffed. "Yes, I heard. But that hardly matters, because I sensed them too. That's kinda an ability us ghosts have. They went that-a-way…" He gestured down an East crawlspace, despite not having any limbs.

"They took the first west passage, went north, turned west again, then continued that way until they reached the HQ. Can't miss it."

Ven blinked, then immediately started crawling into the crawlspace.

Shu tisked. "You're welcome." He said testily.

"Thanks.", Came the muffled reply, as Ven ran down in the crawlspace, toward his goal.

Shu chuckled slightly to himself again, then floated off to do whatever he wanted, now that he no longer was trapped in that overweight Solid Snake disguise. He paused when he realized he'd have to come up with some excuse for his master; this was going to be difficult to explain…

- - -

Ven charged through the alleys, soon enough ending up where he was headed. It was a construction yard, looking somewhat abandoned, with many metal support beams littering the earth. There was a large amount of Houndour; At least a dozen and a half, if not more. Five Houndoom also stalked through the ranks, but only one of them had the sense of superiority befitting of an Alpha.

And this Houndoom in question was currently brutally attacking a rather-familiar-looking Houndour, while being held down by two others of the pack.

Ven leaped in, completely oblivious to the twenty pairs of eyes that looked at him incredulously.

He ran up to the Alpha, who paused his attack long enough to give a confused glance at the white puffball that seemed intent on getting to him.

And was more surprised than you'll ever know when said puffball leapt into him, tossing him into the ground, only just able to prevent the small sharp teeth from making contact with his windpipe.

After his brief moment of confusion, the Houndoom snarled, easily kicking the smaller quadruped away. "Kill him." He said despicably.

Ven glanced around at the hungry faces surrounding him.

Evidently, he didn't think this through.

The pack leapt. Ven didn't have a chance; against a single Houndour, he could probably win. Against two, and he was at a great disadvantage.

At this amount, it was a slaughter.

The pack didn't attempt to kill him quickly, no; none of their jaws aimed for his head or neck. They bit at his shoulder, ears, tail, body; He was bloodied, and felt several snaps within his body as fangs bit through bone.

Blood stained his pelt, and he felt his vision get blurry. He sighed internally, the pain fading away; If he was going to die, fine, so be it. At least, he could see Mia again-

It took him a minute to realize he wasn't dead. He gazed around in confusion, at the Alpha, who was smirking.

"The bitch here-" He gestured at Perdita, still restrained and looking fairly, bloody, though he supposed, better than his current condition.

"Seems to know you. Well, least I could do was give a 'friend' of hers some comforts, right? You wanted to fight me, so be it. One on one, fair." He sneered. "If you can stand."

Ven didn't respond, he simply took another breath. Suddenly, his wounds didn't feel so bad. "Sure, that's fine." He grinned.

The Alpha grinned back, which slowly drew back into a scowle as a star descended from the sky, merging with the Eevee. A couple moments later, the wounds had closed; His pelt was still dyed red in placed, but he looked as healthy as before he had been attacked. The Houndoom growled.

"Fine, if that's how you want to play it." The canine launched himself forward with surprising agility, Ven just managing to leap away before he came down on him.

Ven growled, turned around and spat a tiny golden orb at the Alpha's muzzle; like previously, the sharp light burned the unaccustomed Dark type's retinas, causing him to stumble for a moment.

Ven grinned for a fraction of a second, leapt up to the adversary with bared fangs, but the houndoom recovered in time to counter it, the bite only grazing his throat. The Alpha struck back with a bite to the leg, causing Ven to yowl in pain.

The Eevee stumbled backwards, leg bloodied. He growled briefly, before shooting another golden orb, this one marginally bigger than before. Wary of the technique, Houndoom batted it away with a chuckle.

"Not very strong, are you?" He boasted, then grinned, his fangs almost glowing.

He opened his maw completely, the fire that was building behind them releasing in a powerful stream. Ven quickly outran the stream, fur singed once more, tossing another golden sphere at the elder Canine.

The houndoom growled as it collided with his cheek, sending him flying backward slightly, although he recovered quickly.

"You're getting a bit better, then." Then, the Houndoom grinned again. "So, you like it bright, then?" The cackled slightly to himself, as his horns and visible ribs began glowing. Ven furrowed his brow, wondering what technique it was, until he noticed he was panting; He glanced up for a fraction of a second, and indeed, he saw the sun was bearing down unnaturally hot on them.

The other Houndour, who had previously been circling around the two had now retreated to shade. Apparently, they weren't particularly tolerant of the additional light.

Ven rolled to the side as, again, a stream of fire was loosed, this one wider and hotter than before. Ven silently thanked whatever cosmic power was responsible for giving him a tolerance to heat, because it was beginning to pay off.

He shot another golden sphere, to which the the Houndoom countered by spiting a small ball of fire at. Although innocent to look at, the fireball engulfed the golden light, then immediately unfurled into a massive star. Ven had to look away as the massive glare from the sun, fire and detonation of the orb overloaded his eyes, causing them to ache.

He was consumed in the heart of the flame; Moments later, he limped out, fur smoldering. He stood up for a second, then collapsed, in apparent defeat. He looked about to say something, but evidently wasn't strong enough to do so. The tip of his tail remained on fire, slowly converting his fur to ash.

The Houndoom gave a loud chuckle. "Game over, Eevee." He stalked up to the smaller mammal, and picked him up by the scruff of his neck. "I win." He said quietly to the formally white creature's face.

Ven just gave a grin.

That was obscured as a star from the sky descended upon him, his multiple burns fading away.

The Alpha growled loudly, biting the Eevee's throat, only to find the flesh instantly replace itself while glowing.

After the glow faded, Ven grinned, quickly getting clear of the Houndoom's grip. His fur had been returned to its former white radiance, the blood having been burnt off previously.

"Actually, I think, I win." He said, grinning.

The Alpha raised an eyebrow. "How do you…figure…hm". The canine stood wide eyed, as the Eevee emitted a gigantic golden sphere from his mouth, several times his body size. He watched as the heavenly sphere approached, then separated, into a hundred smaller orbs.

And screamed as they all converged on him, searing him with unnatural light from the inside and out.

Ven collapsed, the energy having been drawn out of him. "It's done." He muttered to the small, charred crater where the remains of the previous Alpha leader previously had stayed. Trump card had been known to reduce remains to atoms, if not dust, being several times more potent than the average Hyper Beam.

He was vaguely aware of twenty-four sets of eyes, all watching him with the same, flabbergasted look.

"…What?" he said.

Then promptly fell unconscious, energy completely depleted.

He failed to see the skyline and lights die, plunging the city into shadows.


	19. Trojan Virus Infection pt2

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 9**

**-**

**--**

**-**

Something had been irritating me the entirety of the day.

At first, I had simply thought the incessant nagging of the Quilava had been giving me a migraine, although that apparently wasn't the case after his departure from the bandwagon. Ever since Ven had left to peruse the city on his own, my head had been causing me great pains and irritation, with no source in near sight.

The other three members of the group had apparently noticed, as they had given me a wide berth. Even the Tentacool Chulu was levitating a healthy distance away, which perplexed me to no end, considering the being hadn't yet grasped the concept of fear, or indeed, even that of personal space. I had taught the creature the main logics of the world through a simple telepathic download, but the intricacies of it still exceeded his limited understanding.

Not, to say in any way, that he was an unintelligent specimen; as far as tentacool went, he was an absolute genius. Even by psychic Pokemon standards, his mind seemed to have a rather massive capacity for learning, and picked up most things in but a few seconds. However, he seemed to have incredible difficulty understanding concepts that are moreso born of instinct; perhaps rightly so, for if he didn't have those concepts, it's fairly difficult to explain.

Yes, Chulu was certainly an interesting specimen, although thinking of him always prompted some minor strain on my mind. It was curious, almost like I had to force myself to accept his existence; still, it was a strain I did not require at the moment, so I pressed him from my mind in order to prevent myself from getting snappish.

I paused as I noticed something out of the corner of my eye; a brightly colored tent, pennants waving in the air tethered to a small wire above it. It looked to be at home at a carnival, and indeed, that was what it seemed to be part of, as the sign proudly proclaimed it to be the abode of a fortune teller.

I quirked my eyebrow at the sign proclaiming palm, tea leaf and tarot readings, all of which I found to be rather ridiculous methods of divining the future. Normally, the only soothsayer I would possibly believe would be one backed up by a flock of Xatu, the larger the better. Still, this one had caught my attention for the moment, and the pounding in my head seemed to lessen upon thinking of going in it.

Apparently, the others had noticed my interest, as Sean and the Buizel Timeria exchanged glances. Chulu simply floated, untroubled, and the Raichu simply looked disinterested.

"Err, Tiris… why don't you take a break?" Sean said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck in an odd way.

"Me, Timeria and the Tentacool can hold ourselves for a while, I was just going to visit a friend, and you look a bit stressed, sooo…"

He trailed off uncertainly.

I had to resist rolling my eyes.

'_Very well.'_ I responded, telepathically. _'I will return to you in due time, then. I expect I shan't be longer than a couple hours.'_ I nodded, paused, then cocked my head at the fortune teller's stall. It still felt… odd, that I was attracted to a brightly colored stall probably manned by some quack with a turban.

Still, it would probably be better than doing nothing, so I walked towards the stall. Behind me, I felt Timeria and Sean pause for a few seconds, before continuing along their way with the Raichu trailing behind. Chulu followed along, still untroubled.

"Come in!" I heard a voice cackle, from the sheet door of the booth. I blinked for a second, as I felt my telepathic rays simply bounce off the organism that inhabit the space.

So, in that case, the fortune teller was either a Psychic Pokemon, or a considerably powerful human telepath. Considering it had communicated to me in clear English, I was inclined to believe the later. I felt the smallest inkling of doubt enter my mind; this was already quite strange. And why was I attracted to this stall in any case? It didn't seem to be much different than any other idiotic booth I'd seen before.

I stared at the sheeted construct for a moment, before sighing and entering, vaguely wondering why there wasn't a price guide listed. I had a large enough stash of money along with me, but that was a strange break in tradition for performers such as this, and didn't bode well.

Still, I proceeded to the door, and pushed it open.

"Welcome!" Exclaimed a shadowed figure from behind a table, with a wide grin. It was quite evidently, a human male. His skin was browned, with black hair and looked vaguely Arabian. He was clothed in an elaborate vibrant purple vest, with an incredibly baggy pair of blue breaches dangling down from hid chair, which perfectly matched the bright decor of the room, with brightly collared sheets. It was relatively bare, but what it had was quite bright.

The table was the strangest piece of furnishing in the entire room; it was a rather plain, sturdy affair, made of some strong wood. It didn't appear to have any knots in it, and had what appeared to be claws on the bottom of the table legs.

"Welcome." The man repeated, gesturing to a chair on the opposite side of the table. I blinked, not having noticed it, but sat down, noting vaguely the chair had a hole at the back just large enough for my rather large tail to sit comfortably. I raised an eyebrow slightly.

The man chuckled, and I noticed for the first time he seemed to be fairly young –in his early twenties, at the very most. Now that was interesting… and I still couldn't get a signal from him. He must have been a very powerful telepath; he wasn't wearing a psychic jammer, that much I could tell at the moment.

"Do you want your fortune told? No charge, complimentary." He said, still grinning. I raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway.

The man nodded, and pulled out a deck of strange looking cards, which I assumed were tarot cards. He shuffled the deck for a few minutes, then neatly laid the deck in the center of the table, then paused, looking as if he were concentration on it. A few moments later, he gestured with a hand, and a card rose from the top, apparently of its own will.

I blinked, this assuring me the human was indeed, a true telepath. I noticed vaguely the diagram on the card, now revealed, was that of a glowing star.

The man nodded. "This, is the card that represents you. The Star; It represents tranquility, calmness, generosity and renewal…"

The human smirked. "I can tell you are the calm in the storm among your fellows, a source of reason and logic, if you will. The Star is also the most in tune with dreams, and the subconscious, providing support from both. Make of that what you will."

The man gestured again, and the Star made its way beside the deck, lying neatly beside it, face-up. The man focused again.

"I can tell you aren't alone. Now, let me see the faces of your fellows…"

This time he didn't give any physical motion, but the next card rose up in the air, revealing itself to be a picture of a male and female human, embracing eachother.

"The Lovers" Said the fortune-teller. "Representing passion, will, dedication, pleasure, one's personal beliefs, and of course, sexuality. But, be warned, as the Lovers also signify a choice, temptation, and doubt." The man nodded, and the card settled beside the first one.

"That card signifies one of your fellows. Make of that what you will." He muttered, opening his eyes again.

I blinked, that description sounding vaguely reminiscent of the Quilava, Narcissus.

Had he been watching us earlier?

The man continued with his divination; yet another card rose, this one showing a king with a dagger in one hand, and a pair of scales in the other.

"Justice." The diviner said. "What is normally a virtue has some unfortunate implications. Justice stands for coldness, distance, revenge, insensitivity, responsibility, and a lack of forgiveness. Much is lost in the pursuit of justice, and it comes hand in hand with these aspects. Yes, I sense one member of your party embodies Justice. Make of that, what you will."

The card settled. I blinked, mulling over the implications of that. I supposed it could refer to the Raichu they had rescued from the Rocket facility, although I really hadn't had much to do with him.

Already, the man had risen his next card, which displayed a pacifistic scene of two calm pools of water, one gently flowing into the other.

"Temperance." He announced, she noticed, without even looking at the face. "Standing for health, balance, healing, teamwork, security and security. Yes, I can tell one of your party is for-want of these traits as it is, but once they achieve them, it will be embraced. Yes, while the Star may be the calm, thinking of the team, Temperance is truly the heart; the one whom pulls together the composite parts, into a single whole."

I blinked, hadinb no idea what any of that had to with any of the others. Still, she watched the man as he continued to focus. He paused for a few seconds, before opening an eye, as if confused. He placed a hand on the deck and drew the card manually, made a strange face, and flipped it over, showing a large, silvery moon.

"The Moon. It is a reflection of the truth, a lack of clarity. Confusion and deception, loss of a goal, worry and apprehension. And yet, the Moon also stands for creativity, fantasy, and creation of a goal in the first place. Yes, the moon embodies one of your group, but is not alone…"

Another card rose from the deck telekinetically, and met the other in the man's palm. It flipped over to show a dark picture, of a shaded figure with a scythe held up in one hand, as if to strike, and an hourglass in the other.

"Death. The end of a cycle, the loss of old ways and traditions. The movement from one state to another, the final end. Death stands for the end of the old, and the beginning of the new. And yet, death also stands for rebirth, regeneration, recreation of the old in a catalyst of the new…"

The man nodded solemnly. "Yes, The Moon and Death. Both of those together symbolize one among your ranks. Make of that what you will… Tiris."

I blinked, then glanced oddly at the man, who was grinning a bit too widely for comfort. "Who… are you?" I asked finally, the soothsayer feeling oddly familiar.

The man cackled, and abruptly, his form withered and changed. His body grew, as his limbs became smaller. His eyes grew, until they were large red slits, and his smirk grew, until it was a massive Cheshire grin.

Moments later, a Gengar stood before her.

"Remember me?" it said teasingly.

I gaped. Then blinked, attempting to get my thoughts in order.

"You're the one who gave me…", I fished in the small pockets of the belt I was wearing for a few minutes. "This!" I said, dangling out a pocket mirror on a chain not unlike one you'd find on an old pocket watch. A small object, looking almost like a keychain, dangled off it; a small silvery trinket, made up of a stylized fang with a eye with a horizontal line through it.

The gengar cackled. "Yeah, that was me. Nice ta' see you again."

I blinked again, once again trying to think of something to say. "Why… are you here?"

The gengar chuckled again. "Nothing to do with you, if that's what you're thinking. Although I did have a slight hunch you might drop by, so I made some preparations."

"The cards?" I guessed casually.

The gengar nodded, then scowled. "Well, sorta. Some recent events beyond my control have put a stopper to my normal abilities to see through time… I mentioned that last time, right?"

I blinked, vaguely recalling him mentioning something on the subject. I nodded.

"Yeah, well, tarot's the closest I can get to my normal state. Not sure how it works, but it does, so I don't knock it. In any case, I'm waiting."

I blinked yet again. "You're… what?"

"Well, you asked why I was here. I answered. I'm waiting." He responded tartly. "And before you ask, yes I will tell you what I'm waiting for. But it's a bit of a long story… Still, we have some time. Pull up a chair. Metaphorically, that is."

I blinked, not sure how to respond to that.

"Well." He said, leaning back and putting his feet on the table (Though he still hovered a few inches from actually touching either the chair, or the table). "It all started with this disk…"

* * *

Timeria glanced inquisitively at Sean, hoping it would convey her question well enough. With Tiris gone elsewhere, they didn't really have much of an effective method of communication. Well, from the buizel to the human, at least; She could understand him quite easily.

Still, either way, the human got the message.

"We're going to visit a friend of mine, like I said earlier." He responded simply.

She could almost hear the Raichu behind her roll his eyes.

She made a small noise in the back of her throat, probably to emphasize her point that really wasn't enough information to go on.

The human smirked, and pointed to a large dome-shaped building a couple blocks down.

"He should be there, don't worry. It's not far."

Timeria blinked, but supposed that was enough information. She had a fair idea of what human cities were like before hand, having been taught somewhat by her brother (who apparently had visited one when he was younger), and filled in on the gaps in her memory by Tiris. Still, it had been overwhelming at first, but she got used to it quickly enough.

Eventually, they got to the dome-shaped building, which Timeria had to look up with a slightly starry expression. The building was big-very big. And several times as wide as it was tall. And all over the domed roof were glittering panels that reflected light, glittering in the brightness.

She was vaguely aware of Ray pulling her away from the 'Big shiny' a couple minutes later, with a rather exasperated tone.

Sean chuckled, watching the Raichu guide the Buizel inside through the large double-doors while muttering to himself, then looked around for a moment at the large open space. "Zack? You here? Zaaack…" He called out slightly.

Timeria blinked as she entered the interior, surprised, though pleasantly, by the interior. The main room they had walked into appeared to be nothing more than a massive, domed room with a huge swimming pool in the center; It was spherical in shape, and had a couple platforms placed sporadically through the entire arena. It looked fairly deep, from what she could see, and had to resist taking a dip; it had been a while since she had a nice soak.

A few moments later, a strange blond-haired human cloaked in a sleeveless black shirt returned Sean's call. Timeria assumed this was the Zack that Sean had been calling for.

"Hey, Sean" He said with a cheery voice. Timeria blinked, noticing he was wearing a pair of darkly tinted glasses. He had learned that humans used them to keep the sunlight out of their eyes, but why was he using a pair indoors…?

"Hey, there." Sean clapped him on the shoulder. "Nice to see you again. Wow, nice pad you have here, then?" He said, chuckling and looking around.

Zack shrugged, turning around to meet his friend. Timeria blinked as she saw a strange sign on the back of his shirt; it appeared to be a stylized A, with a strange oval circling it. Three triangles punctuated each of the sides, creating a strange design.

"It beats my old one, that's for sure." Zack said brightly. "Technically, I only renting it through. If the league actually decides to open up a gym here, I'd still probably be too inexperienced for the job. They'd probably give it to that steel type user, he's shown interest in it every so often." Zack shrugged.

"Still, since Mauville is so close, it's doubtful that'll happen until Wattson retires. So I'm in the clear until then, heh- uh?" Zack blinked, as he turned around to see the door opening again. A teenage girl poked her head in. "Hell-o… Is there a gym leader in the house?" She said in a slightly sing-songy tone.

Zack chuckled. "Not yet, mam. No gymleader's assigned here yet. Come on in," He invited. "We still have room I suppose." He continued, waving a hand. The girl blinked, looking confused, then came in before running a hand through her raven locks.

"So… why is there a gym here then?" She said, indeed sounding confused.

Zack chuckled again. "It was built because the one in Mauville is old. So they made a new one, though it isn't in use. I'm the current rent; name's Zack, Pokemon Stadium Master."

The girl blinked again. "And a Stadium Master is a…"

Zack chuckled again. "We're essentially gym-leaders in training. I'm the master of this here… Stadium, considering it isn't a gym yet. Of course, I'm not licensed to give away badges or whatnot, but I still take on challenges and all that. Though you'll have to excuse me, I'm a bit busy meeting with my friend right now to take a challenge today… You're welcome to stay here though. Use the facilities and whatnot."

The girl blinked, but nodded slightly. "Uhm, alright then…"

Sean paused thoughtfully. "Haven't I seen you before? Oh…back in the rocket base! You were the chick with the Flygon, right?" he said, snapping his fingers as he remembered.

The girl blinked, then smiled as she also remembered. "Oh, right. You were the guy who told me about the Metagross… right." She giggled slightly. "I don't think we were properly introduced then. Name's Sasha." He said, extending a hand.

"Sean." He responded, shaking the hand.

Zack blinked. "Well… don't I feel out of the loop, then?" He then blinked, looking down at Timeria and Ray. "Well well Sean, you didn't tell me you got some Pokemon aside from that Kadabra. Who are they?"

Sean blinked. "Oh, right. This is Ray and Timeria, we saved them from that Rocket facility, remember? Neither had trainers, so I took them in."

Zack nodded, and chuckled. "Well… neither look particularly strong, I'm afraid to say."

Ray sparked dangerously, growling at Zack. Timeria simply blinked, feeling mildly affronted. She wasn't THAT bad in battle…

"Wow, no need to get your tail in a twist there buddy. You look plenty strong enough, come to think of it. Though, your Buizel could use a bit of training…I know!" The man snapped his fingers. "I'll let a couple of my Pokemon give her a brief training lesson! No, don't bother answering, I can tell you love the idea!" He gave a toothy grin to both Sasha and Sean, who both blinked.

"Is he always like this?" The former whispered to the later, who grinned.

"Long as I've known him." He responded quietly.

Zack continued grinning, and took from his belt a strange pokeball, which had a blue top with yellow stripes and what appeared to be a dorsal fin prodding from the top. He tossed it into the air, when energy erupted from it, forming into a small bipedal shape. A moment later, an orange-furred male creature not unlike Timeria appeared, the main difference being the yellow balloon-like organ around his neck tapered down his sides, almost like an inflation raft.

Still grinning, Zack addressed the Floatzel. "Hey Zeal, I need you to show this lovely lady around," He said, gesturing to Timeria. "While you're at it, teach her a couple things to." He paused for a second. "Battle techniques that is, not… er well, yeah, just teach her a couple techniques. Yeah." He finished lamely.

Zeal blinked at his master. "…Right then." He paused, then turned to Timeria with a friendly expression "Err, well them madam, I'd have to invite you to take a dip' with me, if that ain't too much of a problem then." He grinned, gestured to the pool, then gracefully dived in.

Timeria blinked, noticing his dive. Also, to her slight shame, she could help but notice his rather apparent muscles once his fur was in contact with the water. She felt her cheeks heat up slightly, luckily not enough for a blush to be apparent through her fur. She quickly dived in after him.

She heard Ray snort behind her, muttering "What a git."

Timeria swam after Zeal, following him as he swam quickly to the other end of the rather sizable pool. Even she felt it was a little difficult to keep up with him, and she was a really good swimmer, being faster than her brother even though he was a Floatzel with larger fins.

She felt a small pang upon thinking of her brother, but pushed it from her mind. Dwelling on the past wouldn't get her anywhere.

Eventually, she blinked as Zeal suddenly pulled underwater, seemingly a little ways away from the wall. He paused for a second, then dived in after him, allowing the gills under the balloon around her neck to absorb water for the first time in a while.

She followed the male Floatzel for a while, before he ducked under a ledge in the seemingly solid wall. She paused for a second, then followed with a touch more difficulty. The pool was apparently salt water, for which she was thankful, as the extra buoyancy allowed her to swim accurately.

They resurfaced a few moments later, in an apparent separate room and pool. This pool was smaller, but still fairly large. There were not any platforms in here, which led her to think this wasn't used as the rest of the pool.

Of course, those observations came second to the gigantic water snake that was currently resting into the nook, white crown dorsal-fins all around his spine and massive three-pronged crest easily identifying it as a Gyarados.

She stiffened up from shock; Back home, seeing a Gyarados essentially meant you ran for land, very quickly. Even then, very, very few would ever survive a Gyarados attack; unlike Sharpedo, they were smart enough to avoid entire pods of Buizel at the same time, but unfortunately, also unlike Sharpedo, a single one could probably take out that pod of Buizel if it really needed to.

Zeal, however, simply chuckled, went up and poked the Sea serpant in the side of the head a couple times. After a while, the serpant groggily lifted its head.

"What do you want, Zeal?" it asked flatly. Timeria blinked as she noted a touch of femininity to its voice.

Zeal chuckled again. "I need the pool, Mya. See, Zack wanted me to show this fine lady," He gestured to Timeria, who felt her face get hot again "A couple techniques or two, and it might be a bit difficult with an old snakey like you in the way."

"Hm?" The Gyarados looked at Timeria, who stiffened up slightly, and chuckled slightly. "Ah, I see. Don't worry, I'll leave you two alone… all alone… in a small nook where very few people can find, and no humans around to spoil anything…" She asked a bit teasingly.

Timeria blinked, trying to connect the dots, although the fact it came from the mouth of a gigantic carnivorous predator kept getting in the way of that.

Zeal, on the other hand, went red (Which was significantly harder for beings with fur), and stammered. "N-no, not like… No, that's not w-what I mean…I just met her!" He persisted.

The Gyarados gave a small, throaty chuckle. "Sure it isn't", and dove into the water, down through the ledge.

Being in water, none of them noticed a small rumble in the ground.

* * *

Ryull grinned as the ground shook slightly, his tent wobbling to stay active. Every light outside suddenly died, in every building and every place, the electricity failed. Back up generators also refused to work, save in the hospitals, for some inexplicable reason.

Tiris blinked. "What's that?"

"That." Ryull responded. "Is what I've been waiting for."


	20. Trojan Virus Infection pt3

-The Cores of Existence-

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 10**

**-**

**--**

**-**

It seemed like the whole world had stood still.

In reality, it was just the urban component of Hoenn, (especially those in the nearby area of Mauville, who's attention had been already aquired by every electrical device suddenly and unexplainably dying.

Except, however, for every television, theater, computer, or just about every electrical device with a display screen and sound capabilities, which all suddenly changed to show a grey field. The biggest example of this was the jumbo-screen mounted to Mauville's Piller; the largest electrical plant in not only the entire continent of Hoenn, but indeed the entire world, outstripping the previous record-holding generator in Kanto.

A few moments later, the small shape of four metal wings appeared, connected in the center by a red dot.

"_**I am addressing all known civilized humanity." **_Thundered a neat and precise-sounding voice. Several people with more sensitive ears winced and reached for the volume, only to find it impossible to use.

"_**This is not a hoax, publicity stunt, nor an advertisement for a new form of public entertainment, including, but not limited to, a feature-film, interactive game, or book."**_

There were a couple blinks of surprise, and mutterings throughout the masses.

"_**I have hacked into the main energy circuits of mobile, and hijacked all nearby airwaves. All sources of electricity have been eliminated in the Mauville area, excepting those in areas in which doing so would cause unnecessary human death. This may and will be, easily reversed if you do not comply with my demands."**_

More mutterings, this time pulsing with a bit of fear. Was it some sort of terrorist?

"_**No resident of the Mauville area may leave, nor may anyone enter after four hours past the launch of this message. If you have loved ones within the city you would prefer to be in during the proceedings, you have this window of time to reach the city limits. After this time limit is up, measures will be put in place to prevent exit or entrance to the area."**_

More mutterings, and some panic-stricken wails.

"_**Citizens of Mauville are allowed to continue with their general day-to-day activities, unless it involves the main generator, electrical devices, or an excursion beyond the city limits. If necessary, arrangements will be made to supply the city with additional food and water. Further instructions will be given at a later time. **_

_**Do not attempt to disobey any of these instructions. Doing so will be taken as an understanding your life is forfeit."**_

And with that, the screens flashed white, and died.

- - -

"That's what you were waiting for?"Tiris asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

Ryull cackled at her expression, which seemed pretty out of place on a stern visage on hers. Good for her, if there was one thing he hated, it was someone young and overly serious. Youth truly was wasted on the young, he supposed.

"Yup." He grinned. "Technically, I suppose this is my fault. Well, my employer's fault for putting me up to it in the first place. Well, _technically, _it shouldn't be this strong. Hell, it's only one part of the entire program, you gotta wonder how strong it'd be with the other disks."

"So…" Tiris said, clicking her tongue. "What to do we do?" She asked, still curiously.

Ryull chuckled. "We? Who said you were included in this? Ah fine, if you really want to. Well first, we get rid of this crowd." He said, gesturing at the gaggle of humans still milling in front of the jumbo screen, despite it having been dead for several minutes.

The two were perched on top of a somewhat short two-story building, precisely level to the screen's center. Ryull had used some sort of strange ghost-teleportation to appear there, which evidently wasn't privy to the same rules as conventional teleportation, as the Kadabra could tell the air was thick with an anti-telekinesis block. A widespread one like that couldn't do much other than impair a psychic's abilities, but it WOULD make teleporting in and out completely impossible, which, she supposed, was the point.

Ryull cackled, looking at the tip of the huge building. It was easily (And purposely) the tallest building in the city, designed that was with a massive lightning rod. The people below were too distracted to notice, but Ryull prided himself on not being like the common human, and thus did so easily; there was a swirling dark cloud levitating in place over the building, periodically sending out bolts of lightning to collide with the building's top.

He chuckled. The center of Mauville's power, with a mysterious thunderstorm… the program obviously wasn't good at covering its tracks.

Obviously, mister Miltary Program didn't count on Ryull doing some research on his creation. While, to the ghost's chagrin, he found himself unable to reach the information on the other disks, he did manage to hack into the general data area, which provided some useful information.

Firstly, the program worked on two different layers without any aid from further disks. Each disk was its own separate consciousness, though they pooled information and whatnot. That ensured that is one thing distracted the program, it would still have a separate layer to stay on guard. The layers also functioned as defense programs, as in the case on layer was damaged or deleted, the remaining one would repair it.

That was all well and good in itself, however, as it was, the program was incomplete. It needed the remaining… three, was it? Disks to become truly complete. However, in order to integrate further disks, the program had to load its consciousnesses into a separate physical body, that was specially made to host it. From what he understood, the physical body was refered to as the 'Shell', and was made of an alloy of Magnesium and Titanium, which would optimally magnify the program's telepathic powers.

However, Ryull also knew that the Shell had to be augmented before the program could inhabit it. That would take an immense amount of power to bond the two together well enough, and technical know-how that only the head scientists of the project would know. In fact, there was only one who could do it on his own.

Ryull smirked, looking forward to it.

"Well, time to go." He said simply. Tiris blinked. "Go whe…ere?" She blinked, then wriggled her talon-like feet in the air. For a psychic type, she was oddly unused to the sensation of floating. Ryull chuckled slightly; being a Gengar and having incredibly small amounts of actual weight, he experienced that sensation nearly all the time. Levitating another was another thing entirely, but incredibly simple.

He chuckled as the two glided in mid air, as the walls of the tower shimmered and broke apart to let him in. Several wards attempted to impede his progress, but were easily snapped by his superior will.

After all, that damned pile of 0s and 1s took something away from him, that he very much wanted back.

* * *

"Just focus on pushing the water, with the energy inside you. Like you use water pulse."

"Okay…" Timeria took a deep breath, then tried again, stepping forward while reaching deep inside herself for the strange elemental power ingrained within her. There was a brief pause, before the water in front of her rose a couple feet into a solid sheet of water moving forward, before instantly falling apart into spray seconds later.

Zeal grinned. "Very good! A lot better than most people when they first attempt Surf."

Timeria shrugged modestly, but inwardly was glowing at his praise. Hey, he WAS an attractive male.

"Think you can practice that on your own?" He inquired. Timeria paused, then closed her eyes. Once again the water rose, though a bit shakier than before, and collapsed. She opened her eyes, then nodded.

Zeal nodded, grinning. "Good, then. In that case, I think we can move on to something else. Next, I want you to try and surge the water up, like a tide. Same thing like you're trying like surf.

Timeria blinked, but nodded, closing her eyes and visualizing nothing. A moment later she sighed, and pulled inwardly with her mind.

The tide pulled in a few inches then relaxed.

Zeal paused, glancing at it. "Don't try so hard; relax your body, just let the water do it for you. You don't need to force it like Surf."

Timeria felt inclined to respond that he had said it WAS like surf, but bit her tongue. He was just trying to be helpful. She relaxed again, then pulled, albeit a bit more relaxed then before.

She was startled to find the water come up nearly twice as much, touching the tips of her toes. She blinked.

Zeal grinned. "Good job; it's called Brine. It's a subtler attack; the idea is to take the opponent by surprised when they're tired, and knock them off their footing. If they're really tired, the undertoe can even pull them under."

Timeria nodded, blinking as she thought that would be a little useless unless they were fighting near water. He had mentioned earlier about some trick to get around that, but had refused to elaborate when asked about it, responding simply that he'd teach it when she got better with them. It annoyed her, but she supposed she'd have to live with it.

:Hm." Zeal paused. "We should check back in with the humans, can't even leave them alone too long. Might as well grab a kip to eat while we're there; we have a lot of fresh fruit, if you're interested.

Tiemria licked her lips at the thought. Mhm, fruit… it had been a rarity back home. The summer island the buizel migrated to every year had plenty, which she remembered vibrantly. Although, for some reason, her brother always warned her not to eat much except on the island. He never elaborated either, just got really flustered and changed the subject.

Zeal dived in, with Timeria following closely after. They ducked down through the ledge (Timeria took notice of how deep the ledge and pool on the other side was; it looked well large enough for a Gyarados twice the size of the one they had seen). After swimming for a while, they resurfaced on another part of the pool. Zeal climbed out, Timeria following, into a room.

Timeria blinked, upon seeing a female Pikachu talking to Ray. Strangely enough, he didn't seem that hostile. Which was even stranger, considering the Pikachu was familiar; it appeared to be the one that had essentially helped mug them earlier.

She waved a small greeting to the Pikachu, before following Zeal into the next room, which was lightly furnished and heavily decorated. A small coffee table, cheap-looking navy-blue couch and large TV were the extent of the actual, practical furniture. The rest of the room was covered in what appeared to be sailing memorabilia.

Different sea-flags covered the perimeter of the room, ranging from the normal variations on the original Jolly Rodger, to the national Hoenn, Jhoto, Kanto and Sinnoh navy flags. The flag that stood in the middle of the room was larger than the others, colored a deep sea-blue with a strange, stylized white A in the center, didn't seem to stand for any particular country or continent, but was there nonetheless.

Several old guns, a rapier, scimitar, and cutlass were also displayed in cases along the walls, next to old navy badges. The entire room appeared to be a tribute to the human's achievements in sea faring.

However, at the moment, all the attention was on the TV screen, which was odd, seeing as it was showing nothing but a pure grey field. Both waterpokemon blinked at the three humans, who were staring intently at the screen.

"What's up?" Zeal asked curiously, attempting to get the human Zack's attention.

Zack blinked, then just pointed at the screen. "Just listen" he muttered.

There was about a minute's pause, before a few small black characters appeared on the screen. It was too quick for Timeria, though she recognized it as human writing; Hey brother had shown and taught her some letters, in case she ever went to the mainland. Even now, Tiris occasionally took a couple minutes to help her with her reading.

Luckily, she didn't have to read, as a rather mechanical and level voice spoke while the text scrolled.

"_**At this time, citizens of Cyanville are not to leave their buildings. Any humans outside of a shelter must find a suitable area of coverage. SCSPSUs will be patrolling the area; if it is impossible to find suitable shelter while a SCSPSU is nearby, please move as to not obstruct the unit's path. If the unit issues a command, it is to be followed promptly with no additional conversation. Failure to comply will result in extermination by patrolling SCSPGUs. These limitations will be relaxed in time, with your compliance."**_

There was a brief pause, and then the message repeated itself.

All three humans continued staring at the screen.

Finally, Sean slumped back, sighing. "What the hell is an SCPSU, or whatever they called it?"

Zack shrugged. "Dunno. I assume it has something to do with the quarantine in Mauville. In any case, none of you are leaving, no way. Something like this probably has the Rockets involved… did you hear anything about that, Sean?" The human glanced over at his dark-haired, slightly mousier counterpart.

Sean shook his head. "I haven't exactly been privy to much knowledge as of recently- I ditched them, you know, took out an entire lab-"

The girl rolled her eyes, muttering. "Seemed more like the Metagross was doing most of the work".

"…Not that time, Sasha. In any case, I'm not sure if it's Rockets or not… doesn't really seem like their style, they would have let everyone know their affiliation known right away. But what's the point of this? What do they want? Right now, they've just told people not to leave their homes. What is whoever is responsible for this after?"

Zeke swallowed noticeably. "Not sure. But it can't be good. We don't even know what these… SCSs are. They mentioned two types; PSU and PGU, and the second one was used as a threat. So I suppose we can assume the PGUs are the more threatening of

The two. Although, from the sounds of it, the PSUs are doing the actual work, and the others are just pulled in for muscle. Hm."

Sean tapped his foot irritably. "But what ARE they? The only things I've heard of with acronyms like that are either computer hardware, or political parties. And that's still bares the question; exactly what do they want?"

"Uhm, guys…" Cam the unsure sound of the girl. She waved the others over to her side, peering out the window on the door, which until then had been shuttered.

"I think I figured out what they are…" She squeaked out unsurely, pointing at a strange silvery contraption in the other room, currently trading blows with the Pikachu, Ocean. Ray was nowhere to be seen.

"They're… Porygons…" Sean muttered, staring at the creature.

Zeke gritted his teeth. "That explains what they are…" he said, then pointed out a side window, where the unconscious form of a Gyarados was seen before being zapped with a violet beam from a different silvery porygon, causing it to dematerialize. "And that explains what they're after. The Pokemon. They want the Pokemon".

He sighed, then walked over to his desk, before he pulled out a black suitcase. "It pays to be overly paranoid, then." He muttered, opening the case to reveal a pair of revolvers and case of bullets.

* * *

Ven was lurched awake in the darkness. He looked around groggily, before standing up, and cocking an ear. This was wrong- he appeared to be in a…field. That was the only way to describe it, a big field of grass with the slightest of slopes and an ordinary blue sky. Oddly enough, he couldn't see the sun, or tell what time it was, though he assumed noon from the lighting.

"Hmph. You're awake." He heard a disdainful voice say from beside him. Ven glanced in that direction, and blinked and backed away when he recognized the smug visage of the Houndoom Alpha.

He backpedaled from the skull-wearing carnivore, then yelled in pain as his leg brushed an invisible barrier, shocking him.

The Houndoom laughed loudly at his pain, then grunted at him after finishing. "Well, at leas they got you too, bastard".

Ven blinked in confusion. "Who? The Rockets? Ah, damn, not again…" He whined to himself, while walking in circles.

The houndoom growled at him. "Shut up. I don't know, doubt it's Rockets. They usually use cages instead of anything like this. I think it's digital."

Ven paused, then knelt down to look at the bed of grass beneath him. He prodded it, and blinked as it looked strangely… fake for a moment. Definitely a sure-sign of being in a pokeball.

Ven blinked, as he looked behind the Houndoom. There appeared to be many, many Pokemon, stretching off into the distance, all aligned in a single file box. He glanced behind him to see some Houndour, apparently sleeping, before looking at the houndoom again, eyebrow cocked.

"But…I killed you."

The Houndoom chuckled. "Yeah, sure. Your little light show did me in for a kip, but I was very much alive. Although probably not for long, I highly doubt I could've stood there unconscious, with broken bones, for long before someone tore out my throat."

He grunted. "So I suppose I'm lucky I got captured by… whoever."

Ven nodded, slightly, to himself. Well, he supposed the Trump Card could've just thrown the Alpha back, out of sight. He was tired to the point of hallucinating then, so he probably just convinced himself the reason the Houndoom wasn't in the crater, was because he disintegrated.

The houndoom yawned. "No point in doing anything, then. I already checked, we can't use techniques in here."

Ven paused, then tried to summon a shadowball; predictably, he found it impossible. The power within him he tried to dig up simply didn't appear to be there.

"Nor can we move into other people's cages, unfortunately. For me, for you I suppose it's lucky. You figured out what happens when he hit the box's limits."

Ven winced, glancing at his leg; miraculously, there wasn't any callous or bruise from where it hit the barrier.

The Alpha 'hmph'ed, then laid down, nose between his paws, before yawning. "No point in trying to escape. If this is digital, there's no real place to escape from. Unless it's a pokeball, but I don't think Co-Ed pokeballs exist."

Ven glanced at the Alpha, then sighed to himself, looking out miserably at the faux field. ANOTHER cage, another hostage scenario… it seemed these days, he wasn't anything other than a damsel in distress. Although he didn't see himself as much of an egotist, he had to admit the fact he apparently couldn't defend himself emasculated him a little.

He sighed, sure that Narc would pick up on that and taunt him for it forever.

"You smell familiar."

Ven blinked, then glanced at the Alpha, who had spoken. The Alpha didn't move, but continued. "Your scent. I've smelled it before. Or something similar, anyway."

Ven blinked. "I am the one who kicked your ass earlier, if you remember that…"

The Alpha snorted. "You were a bloody mass of fur. It was pure luck your recovery technique decided to activate just then. I mean before that. Hm."

He paused for a second. "Do you have any family?"

Ven paused, wondering how to answer that. "Well… sorta. I had six brothers and sisters… One of them was taken and eaten by a Gengar as a kit, so really just five. I don't consider most of them family though."

The Houndoom paused for a couple seconds, then nodded to himself. "Did you have an Espeon sister?"

Ven blinked. "Err, yeah. Ceii, have you heard of her?"

The Houndoom cracked a smile. "Sorta. She was my mate."


	21. Trojan Virus Infection pt4

-The Cores of Existence-

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 11**

**-**

**--**

**-**

Tiris finally snapped.

"Would you stop that?" She hissed to her companion, who shrugged, a Cheshire grin still on his face.

"Nobody made you come. Plus, that tune's been stuck in my mind all day. Not sure why, I can't remember the lyrics… for some reason." Ryull responded, then continued humming the mysterious tune to himself. It nagged at him slightly; he knew what the words were, he knew he knew, but it was just at the tip of his tongue.

…Bah. There was no use. Well, he remembered one segment of a lyric at least.

"Oh, what a wonderful world such would be…" He muttered along with the accompanying tune. Tiris cried out in agony.

Ryull smirked. "Aren't you supposed to be the calm one?"

"My calm has limits. And I hate humming. It's what people do when they have nothing to say, but want to stop people from enjoying silence."

Ryull smirked, then shrugged. "Oh well, if I have to deal with that tune stuck in my mind, so do you, dear. I'll stop when I finally remember the lyrics."

Tiris rolled her eyes, but continued walking. Surprisingly, Ryull did not continue with his incessant humming.

"Sooo…" Ryull said after a moment's silence. "…Why are you here anyway? What could you possibly get from aiding me?"

Tiris shrugged. "Don't have anything else to do. Maybe I wanted the adventure."

Ryull smirked. "You don't know, do you?"

Her silence was the only answer he needed. Well, that wasn't too uncommon to one like Ryull. In his long, long life he had met many people like that. Many were heroes; Hell, one of his best personal friends, Icen the Charmeleon, hadn't known what to do most of his life. And he still somehow ended up accomplishing more than most people would in their lifetimes, within a couple years.

Ryull made a mental note to visit him the next time he bothered to go into the Ghost Realm. Oddly enough, despite the Ghost Realm being the home realm of, well, all Ghost-types, very few entered there, and the ones that did were only visiting. Otherwise, only the dead souls of the previous residents of this world, Arceus' plane, inhabited it.

Ryull shrugged, supposing Gir liked it like that. He didn't gain anything from his own ghosts staying there, but the souls of the departed… Soul was an odd material. It's impossible to destroy, and impossible to create. It's incredibly hard to refine it into a stronger variety by any known means, even, except one; Incarnating it into a physical form, letting it take on life. As that life develops, gains thoughts, feelings, and ideals, a new thing tends to grow in them; Imagination. Ingenuity, or the that's at least the form it takes while in the mind of a sentient being. After death, it saturates the spirit, allowing them to keep their previous identities in Giratina's realm, and essentially get on in the afterlife.

Giratina enjoys this, for one simple reason; Large quantities of Soul run thick with imagination allows Soul to somehow…reproduce. The more soul reproduces in the Otherworld, the more the Otherworld increases in size and power, and with it does Giratina. Sure, there was a setback when Giratina's physical body was killed a few years back, but even so, there was no denying that soon Giratina might gather enough energy to challenge Arceus.

But what happened if he did so, and won?

Ryull cackled. He supposed it would all start again, with Arceus and Giratina swapping sides. It was their game, he guessed. An endless cycle. Neither would kill the other, because Life and Death go hand in hand; losing one would cancel out the other.

It was beautiful to him, at least. All of existence slowly doing a 360 turn, with imagination and ingenuity as the motors; That was the meaning of their life, he supposed. A pity it was the ones with the least imagination that insisted on killing others indiscriminately, before they could ripen properly. He really hated those kinds, and usually killed them upon meeting. After all, they were usually concerned with one thing; Their own power and betterment. They all thought the same uniform way, and they were all completely pathetic. They were both valueless, and harmful. Like weeds, he supposed.

Ryull blinked, noticing he had walked through at least seven pillars while in thought, then shrugged. Tiris seemed relieved that he had stopped humming, and he responded to that by starting up again, to her chagrin.

Tiris grumbled. "How far until we hit the pinnacle?"

Ryull smirked. "'Bout' twelve levels or so. It's a tall spire. And here's the thing; How the hell are you concerned about my humming, when THAT thing is here-" The Gengar gestured to a massive electricity generator, which was roaring at full power. None of the energy would reach the city beyond, but it was still quite active.

Tiris shrugged. "I can deal with white noise."

Ryull snickered.

- - -

"Take this, bastard!" Zack yelled out, pulling the trigger of his weapon, while aiming at the silvery device's head. The bullet struck true, puncturing the Porygon's head…

Who simply turned around and looked at him with neutral eyes.

Sasha coughed.

"Erm… it's a machine… it doesn't necessarily have its brain in its head…"

Zack bit his lip. "Sasha, that could've been more useful earlier…"

The Porygon made a mild clicking sound, before the same machine-like voice from the TV started playing again. **"Cease and desist immediately." **

Zack snorted. "That isn't very likely to happen, now is it?"

Sean blinked, staring at his friend. "Zack… why are you antagonizing the machine? Just… why?"

Zack grunted at him, not taking his eyes off the metallic menace. "It attacked my Gyarados."

"Which is all a better reason to get out of here… That thing single-handedly took down a Gyarados, we don't stand a chance! Hell, I don't even have most of my Pokemon, and it already grabbed the raichu!"

Zack paused, then growled to himself. "Then we'll make do with the ones we have! Zeal, get it!"

The Floatzel nodded, Then immediately rolled to the side before leaping at the metallic creature, which briefly floated back to dodge, getting a small fist in its midriff for the trouble. It grunted briefly for a moment.

"**Alerting surrounding combat systems. Accessing Conversion data; Conversion element: Steel. Conversion 2 element: Fighting. Trace ability: Water absorb"**

Zack paused, and muttered to himself. "Conversion eh? Hm…" He looked around, before looking back at the Porygon, which was strange inactive. "Nothing around here with Water absorb for it to trace, or at least nothing I've released yet. Not good."

Sean paused, cutting in; "It converted to a Steel type, and covered the Fighting weakness. Meaning it still is affected by Fire and Ground." He swore to himself. "Dammit, and my Quilava ran off on me a while ago… What about you?" He turned to look at Sasha, who blinked and nodded nervously, picking a ball of her belt and tossing it. Moments later, a green insectoid-looking dragon appeared, with a silver manacle around his neck, tail and arm. He looked around, and stared at the Porygon passively.

"Zeke, get him!" Sasha ordered.

- - -

Narc really, really loved humans.

Seriously, he did. Only humans could make something as perfect as the pen he had infiltrated, then get worked up enough over some lights in the distance dying to lock up the exit and leave without checking up, really, on those inside the cage.

He grinned as he looked across the grassy pasture. The interior of the cage was really quite massive, and managed incorporate several different areas; It ranged from an artificial lake washing past, to an area with some hot steam ducts (And nearby hot spings), to a heavily forested area, to a sandy area, and finally, the main grassy field.

Of course, all that was secondary for the REAL reason he was here; The incredibly… err, 'active' females. Which, he was pleased to find was almost as good as he had dreamed; Only minutes after entering had he been tackled down by a (female, obviously) Poochyena, who obviously hadn't been able to find another alone male by then.

That was one part Narc disliked, there were much too many males around for his liking. Worse yet, many of them seemed to be incredibly aggressive to anyone who got near their individual 'property'; Ie, the fems they laid claim to. Still, he supposed he could live with that; Already, after the Poochyena, he had found a Chikorita to seduce (Not particularly difficult, although she did talk more than the afore-mentioned black-coated dog), and moved on once again. Not too bad for, what, seventy minutes maybe? Perhaps a bit longer?

The Quilava glanced around hopefully, looking for any other singles left. He noted slightly that there were less pairs than normal than usual, for some strange reason.

He supposed they were on lunch or something, then paused, noting he himself was a bit hungry.

Rationalizing that it would be better to female-seek on a full stomach, The Quilava took one more scan of the area, before turning around and heading back towards to the building.

There was a loud scream from the distance, and Narc's ear perked up. Not that such a sound was rare around here, but that sounded more from terror than anything else.

Odd, but he supposed he could be wrong. Then again, there might be some jackass out there getting physical with the fems, which he would have to 'speak to'. With lots of fire, preferably, and with 'gratification' from the fems involved.

Or just fire. Narc smirked slightly. It'd probably be worth it just for the fire, although he wouldn't mind the fems too.

"H-hey, you!" He heard the desperate, and distinctly female, voice call. Narc instantly lost all thoughts of playing hero (And even of fire), to give his full and undivided attention to whoever was calling to him…

…Well, her body at least. Though a fair portion of his attention would stay on her words, he was sure.

He blinked at her for a moment, completely confused on what it was. It was a pink biped, that was sure, and distinctly female, with a striped tail that had a small blue bauble at the end. It had two black-striped horns on either side of its head, and what appeared to be wool, covering most of its head and neck area. Odd yes, but strangely attractive.

Then again, there was little that WASN'T attractive to Narc. He grinned at the approaching female, which dropped slightly as he noticed her worried expression.

"What's up?" He asked, blinking. She started to respond, then paused when she noticed he wasn't listening, and was instead looking a bit too interested at her tail.

"WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME?" She fumed, a crackle of electricity emitting from her fur. Narc blinked, noticing the blue sphere on her tail lit up for a moment when she did that, but decided not to.

"Err, sure." He said somewhat awkwardly, though with a chuckle. "Pheromones and whatnot, playing with my head. So, what's got you worried, Love?"

The strange Pokemon narrowed her eyes at him slightly, although she still shifted her weight from side to side, looking anxious.

"It's just… everyone was disappearing, so I went to go look, and c-check up on my sis, right?" She asked, once again sounding very nervous. Narc quirked an eyebrow, wondering where this was going, if she happened to be a schizophrenic (It was disturbingly common among furred electric types), and three, where she got those GORGEOUS legs.

Luckily for the fire type, she didn't notice his wandering eyes this time, and continued speaking. "And there was t-this thing… it looked sorta like a p-poryon, you know? With a bill and no legs, and floating… But it fired this strange beam that made my sis disappear and… and…" The pink creature fell backwards and sobbed slightly.

Narc blinked once again, still trying to decipher what the hell she was saying (What, in Mesprit's good name, was a Porygon?), but decided now was the type to put a comforting paw on the creature's shoulder. Despite what it might seem like, Narc could be tactful when he wanted to be, and generally knew that 'being there' for an emotional breakdown was always useful when a fem was involved. He had hoped to avoid all the romance bullshit with his trip here, but eh, when life gives you lemons.

"T-thanks" She stuttered out, wiping a tear from her eye. "I'm Renee…"

Narc blinked, and gave her a grin. "Name's Narcissus. Call me Narc. So, what happened again?" He wasn't particularly interested, but in case she questioned him later, he'd like the story to make some sense.

Renee gave a small sniff. "Well, I was here with my sister, Angel… B-but then, there was this weird, floating thing that looked kinda like a Porygon. You know what those are like? Sorta bird-like body, with a bill and no limbs, but a kind of box on either side?"

Narc shook his head slightly, then nodded slightly as he mentally drew the picture. It was an odd looking creature, to be sure, and he felt it difficult that nature would create such a screwed up creature. It obviously had to be a psychic of some sort, something that odd and without legs to get around on.

"W-well, one of those… except, it was kind of grey colored… well, it attacked her a-and… well, she fought back a bit, but then it did something weird, and- and then…"

She trailed off, looking sad, and about to cry again.

"And when was this?" Narc asked curiously. Something felt odd about this…

"A few minutes…" Renee sniffed.

Narc swore internally, looking around almost paranoidly. Obviously, that's why there were less people around; they were being hunted by some sort of predator around here. He should have been more alert.

"Is something wrong?" Renee asked, eyes big.

"Yes." Narc responded, for once not looking at her. Self preservation took priority over impressing a female, after all. "It could be very well still here." Narc paused, not listening to her response, instead focusing on the surroundings. The light breeze, the steam vents in the distance… if there was one sound out of the ordinary- There!

The Quilava dashed out of the way, just as a glowing purple beam collided with the ground he was sitting in just a moment ago. Renee screamed, and backed away; Floating in place, just out of reaching distance, was a silvery bird-like creature fitting her previous description.

Narc smirked. Well, this looked like a nice change of pace… a fight, to get his adrenalin even higher before he got working on Renee. His back flames lashed out and increased, in preparation for battle.

"**Species: Quilava. Fire element, Blaze ability. Notable features: Remarkably agile, can reach temperatures above that of average fire types. Capable of evolution. Primary carriers of signature move, Flame Wheel; Flame Wheel currently not in technique database. Commencing assimilation."**

Narc snorted at the creature, who was charging another Psybeam. Narc stood in place until the technique was launched, then quickly dashed out of the way, curling up into a flame wheel before charging at his opponent, who floated off to the side and charged up a crackling, yellow beam. There was a moments pause before a yellow beam was emitted from the creature.

At that moment, Narc reversed his direction, as the beam hit where he would have been, supercharging it with electricity for a moment. The Quilava leapt at the silver creature, then promptly disappeared a few seconds later. Immediately afterwards, there was a sound akin to static as he slammed into it from behind, igniting with flame and pushing it into the ground. Narc bit at the creature, and grimaced as he hit incredibly tough, metallic hide.

The machine began to wriggle, then immediately crackled with energy. Narc called out in pain, then leapt off the creature before the barrier invoked could remove his motor abilities.

The Porygon-creature righted itself, then announced in it's annoying monotone: **"Activating Conversion: Rock. Conversion 2: Ground. Trace Ability:" **The machinery paused for a few seconds, then continued; **"Trace function unavailable due to software damage".**

Narc smirked, the entirety of that going over his head, although he recognized the word "damage" when it came up. Evidently, the last attack had dinged up some of the enemy's abilities.

Narc took a deep breath, before aiming, and releasing a long plume of flame at the opponent, who did not make a move to avoid it. Startled, Narc dropped the stream after a couple seconds, apparently doing no damage. That seemed fairly inconsistent to him, considering he had used heat to score a powerful blow only a couple minutes ago.

"Narc!" came the call from Renee, who had retreated a small distance away. "Conversion is a Porygon ability; it changed its type to Rock! Fire won't hurt it! And Conversion 2 gave it a resistance to ground attacks!"

Narc grunted and blinked at Renee, then swore to himself. His only way of dealing with Rock types involved a ground technique, and evidently that wasn't going to work now. His only remaining way was Brick Break, which needed a fairly clear shot to work properly.

He dodged to the side to avoid another Psybeam, then paused as a triangle screen appeared to form between the foe's beak and its two appendages. A moment later, he faked to the side and leapt out of the way of the triangular blast that followed, leaving an area of the ground it touched frozen.

Narc split into three, then leapt as a trio, vanishing and once again attacking from behind. This time the opponent didn't do so much as flinch at the attack; the two clones vanished when their claws hit the somehow even harder hide of the enemy, while Narc scowled and backed off. He was starting to think about retreating, as this was evidently unwinnable.

He blinked in surprise as their was a loud static-like sound as a large bolt of electricity stuck the enemy dead on, causing it to falter in the air. Narc didn't miss a beat, quickly striking it three times in succession with his claws closed slightly, more as a fist; The enemy made a strange, emotionless shriek, before retreating slightly.

"**Activating Conversion element: Water. Conversion 2: Electricity" **

There was a brief pause, when suddenly the entire enemy's body rippled, like in a pond. Narc grinned; Water still neutralized his fire, but at least he had attacks that would damage it.

He demonstrated this by leaping at the creature, who floated backwards, and glowed as another triangle-shape appeared; Narc veered to the side, then promptly disappeared as it approached him, causing the enemy to wince as the Quilava blindsided him with Aerial Ace again.

The being quickly shook off Narc again, staring at him before charging up yet another, crackling beam; Renee had already retreated again, and was ignored as harmless by the creature as he had already blocked her electric attacks.

Suddenly, the being paused, letting it's attack die. It spoke in another voice, as monotonus as before, but somehow different enough to see something else was speaking.

"_**The second disk has been acquired. All scouting and guard units are to return to the original. Cease all current activity."**_

The voice stopped, and the being stood there, floating in place.

Then, without fanfare, it glowed for a second before evidently teleporting out.

Narc just stared. "Alright, fine. So it's a limbless jackass that can change its type and cheat, I'm fine with that. But what the HELL was that?" He sat down stubbornly.

"I'm not moving until somebody tells me what's going on." He muttered.


	22. System Update pt1

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 12**

**-**

**--**

**-**

Tiris shivered. Oddly enough, she'd never been this cold in her life; While that sounded extreme, it really wasn't that much of an accomplishment. Even with her teleport ability, she'd never left the warm climates of Hoenn, and spent most of her time in an air-controlled house anyway; Generally a Rocket Laboratory, working on several projects, until recently.

If nothing else, people had to admit the rockets had some amazing scientific projects in place; Just in the few years she'd been employed, she had worked on an artificial virus that only killed specific targets coded into it by DNA, a new type of magnetic alloy that would seal itself together in seconds if it were cut open for use in a tank-robot, and developing new hormones for use on Pokemon in order to increase stamina, brain flow, energy flow, at the same time, allow more focus for the Pokemon it was applied to.

Admittedly, Tiris had though most of those projects would probably end up scrapped later down the line for reasons of them being nigh-impossible, but now she was starting to have second thoughts, witnessing what the machinery in front of her could do.

She and the gengar apparently called Ryull were standing (Well, the gengar was floating) on the pinnacle of Mauville's generator building, easily the tallest building in all of Hoenn. Usually, rooms in the upper level would be rented out to rich private company's offices and this area would be an observation deck for visitors, but now it was simply serving its intended purpose; Generating near-ridiculous amounts of electricity in a very short frame of time.

The deck in front of her was fairly bare, flat, with a four-foot orange fence around it; just enough to keep idiotic tourists from falling down by accident. Even so, rumor had it there were several salamence normally employed by Wattson, the generator's owner, to grab anyone who fell from it; at the moment, there weren't any of the massive Dragon types in sight, and Tiris wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Kneeling on the observation deck, grinning at them, was a man in a white lab coat. He wore a pair of thick, sturdy black rubber gloves, and had a couple metal pins displayed on his coat for apparently no reason. His jet black hair was slicked back, and he gave a smirk as he adjusted his spectacles.

Of course, he was dwarfed by the contraption behind him; a roughly eight-foot wide cylinder with a beveled top, sparking as mass amounts of electricity was pumped into it. Eight smaller replicas of it were scattered around the area; Two appeared to be in gravitational orbit around the larger one, and were floating weakly around it.

"Like it?" The human sneered. "How did you two get in here anyway? X-4 blocked all the entrances."

"We flew." The gengar replied seriously. "…and boy are our arms tired" He said, giving a wide smirk as he said it. "Who said all one-liners had to be badass, eh?"

The scientist gave a dry look. "Whatever. You should leave now; X-4 is nearing completion, and he will not like it if you two are here when you're not supposed to be. So, just leave, now."

The scientist turned and adjusted the tightness on his glove, before picking up one of the miniature cylinders that didn't float and open up a secret hatch with it.

"Ah…" Ryull said, smirking. "See, that's where we have a problem. See, I have this grudge against lil' ol X-4, and I happened to know it wouldn't be good if you manage to fix his body up. Besides, this is where his main telepathic mainframe is, right? What allows him to do most of what he does much quicker than a general Porygon? Plus…" Ryull jabbed a claw at the slightly yellow tinted barrier in the distance, "How he happened to create that."

The scientist paused. "You mean to say, you want to destroy X-4?"

Ryull smirked his trademark gengar grin. "In a word, yes."

The scientist turned his face slightly red. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

In a flash, he grabbed a pair of pokeballs previously unnoticed off his belt.

"Go, Aggron,.Magnezone! Take care of them!"

Two Pokemon appeared in flashes of light; one was a massive, somewhat reptilian looking thing covered in shiny metal plates on the back, and duller metal scales on the front. It had massive fangs and roared, shaking its long metal horn; Two other, shorter ones prodded from higher on its head.

The other was a weird thing; It appeared to be a fat disk of some sort, with three eyes and two large magnets underneath it. A small yellow antenna stuck out from the center, glowing slight every couple seconds.

Ryull smirked. "So, it's a battle you want then? Fair enough, two on two… but first, I have to handicap myself." The gengar flicked his wrist, and… what appeared to be a children's toy appeared. It was a wheel, with cartoon diagrams of 16 elements painted on it; a red arrow pointed to one spun around, causing the pictures to light up for a second as it passed.

Ryull chanted in a sing-song tune. "Oh wheel of elements, spin round. Right round. Like a record, baby." The gengar chuckled to himself, earning a strange look from both Tiris and the Scientist. The aggron looked confused. The magnezone didn't care.

"Ooh…" The gengar said, then grinned as the arrow landed on a depiction of a plant. "Grass, eh? Sweet…" The ghost closed his eyes as the wheel disappeared, then opened them. Around him was a light aura of green, and he smirked. Tiris blinked, as a pleasant smell reached her nose.

"Aromatherapy. Just in case of any of those annoying paralyzings, right?" The gengar chuckled to himself, then leapt at the aggron.

The larger beast looked lightly startled, but slammed one iron-hard limb into the ground; The ghost simply faded away before the arm struck, reappearing to the side of the monstrous being, glowing with several colors.

The gengar smirked, and raised his arms. "Try this." The glowing faded as a large leaf appeared in the gengar's palm, directly into the metallic reptile's midriff. The beast moaned in pain, as the leaf returned to the ghost.

"Miracle Leaf. Gotta love it, right?" The Gengar smirked. "Time to get serious, now. Sorry."

The gengar pirouetted in mid-air, as thousands of rose-colored petals floated out of him, filling the area… then moments later turned rigid, and attacked both metallic beings with a flurry of sharp petals, each one making a large cut. Neither being able to see anything, they struggled, attempting to escape the whirlwind.

The magnezone's eyes widened for a second, as it then collapsed, a small portion of it broken off. Ryull grinned as he struck a pose, the aggron pausing for a moment before it could realize its grievous injuries from the attack. Ryull was sporting two emerald-colored arms, with long blades of green energy trailing behind him; the left energy blade sported some flecks of blood.

The petals fell down to reveal a completely unconscious magnezone (missing a small portion from one side), and the Aggron curled up on the ground in agony as half of its stomach was sliced open; the protective metal plates over it had been seared through, ripped like tissue.

Ryull just smirked. "Got any more?"

The scientist gaped, and then quickly fumbled with his pokeballs, before recalling his two steel types. He glared at Ryull. "Actually, I do, two more. And you might find these two a more difficult team then the previous."

He tossed out another pair of pokeballs; unlike the previous, uniform red-and-white the others were, one of these was a Cherish ball, while the other appeared to be a Quick ball.

"Go, Rotom and Glaceon!"

- - -

The Flygon Ezekiel blinked in confusion as his opponent disappeared in a small flash.

"Well, that was odd…" he muttered to himself, but shrugged. He then shrugged, supposing that it was fine if he didn't have to fight; he liked his days off with Sasha.

Much more relaxing than working in the active office of Fenrir, anyway.

The dragon flapped his insectiod wings twice, before flopping onto the couch. Timeria, who had been taking cover behind there hastily retreated from it before she could be crushed by a ton of dragon tail.

"Whoops; sorry there, m'am." The Flygon said jovially to her, giving her a small salute with two of his claws before snuggling up to the pillow underneath his head. Within moments, the emerald lizard wrapped both of his wings around himself like a small blanket, muttering strange snatches of phrases as he quickly fell asleep.

Timeria paused, then giggled slightly at the dragon; she really couldn't help it. Until then, she'd been more than slightly intimidated by the desert drake (despite never actually seen him in battle), and this subversion of her expectations was odd, if welcome. Weren't dragons supposed to be regal and whatnot?

Well, at least he hoarded precious metals, she noted, noticing she silver manacles around his tail, arm and neck.

"Hey!" She heard a friendly voice call, and clap her on the shoulder. She turned to see the pleasant face of Zeal, who was looking happy, if winded from his previous tussle with the thing.

"You okay?" He asked, slightly breathlessly. Timeria giggled slightly again, feeling her cheek heat up again. Funnily enough, why hadn't she ever acted like this around any of the males back home? Ceila had essentially forced her to hook up even with the males she grew up with…

Timeria paused, and sighed slightly when she thought of Ceila. By now the Vaporeon was probably in rocket custody… and not around the same place she was, she had already checked. The only vapreons found in that lab were too old to be her, or male.

So, her brother was dead and her best friend was as good as dead, anyway. From what Ray had told her about his time with the Rockets, death seemed preferable; or at least to the Raichu. To be fair, the electric rodent didn't have a sunny disposition to begin with… although that COULD be due to his time while trapped…

Zeal looked at her concernedly "Are you alright? You look down…"

Timeria sighed again, but was interrupted by a loud zap and a yell. She blinked in surprise. Zeal's jaw fell down incredulously.

"Oww, Ocean! No need to shock me like that…" the desert dragon said, as he shook himself slightly and yawned, before sitting up on the couch. The pikachu that had just shocked him simply glared, arms crossed and looking pissed.

"What are you doing sleeping like this! This is big, and you're useless as always!"

Zeke chuckled for a second. "Oash, no need to get so ril-"

"They already took that nice Raichu!" The pikachu growled back. "I could've taken it, but R-"

"PSTH!" The Flygon interrupted in turn, hastily. He glanced at Zeal and Timeria, who blinked in confusion.

The Pikachu just growled. "Fine. Just don't do something stupid and go to sleep after something like this happens, for darkrai's sake…" The pikachu muttered, walking off and sparking slightly.

Zeke chuckled to himself. "Bit of a firecracker, that one. Oddly enough, she only hurts you when she DOESN'T have a legitimate reason."

Timeria blinked. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind…Zeal?" The buizel blinked at the male floatzel, who was still gaping. He sputtered slightly. "She… shocked, him!"

Timeria blinked again. "Yes…"

"What of it?" Shrugged Zeke.

"You're a ground type!" the male water type yelled. "You aren't affected by electricity!"

There was an awkward pause.

"Well…" The emerald dragon started, looking around. It paused, stuttering on a word, before he suddenly perked up with an idea. "Oh, yeah, now I remember. My silver bracers conduct electricity.

Zeal paused. "That made no sense on a fundamental, scientific, or logical level."

]

He sighed. "But I don't have any alternate theories to go by…"

Zeke smirked. "Good man. No use overthinking stuff. Things happen, who cares why? Live with the result, not the problem, that's my philosophy.". The green dragon smirked for a moment, then muttered slightly, as an afterthought. "Probably why I can't hold a female, either. Then again, fem dragons are a bit rare, and they're all after these chivalrous, stiffy types. Just once, I'd like to meet another dragon that would, like, memorize a dictionary just to mock people with better vocabulary. Break in the monotony, dig? Even better if it's a fem…" The dragon smirked, then yawned to itself.

It curled back on the couch. "Just a quick nap."

Zeal stared at him for a moment, then sighed. "Bizarre… well, Ti, wasn't I treating you to berries before all this happened?"

Timeria licked her lips enthusiastically, nodding.

- - -

Ryull raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding."

The scientist growled back at him, glasses glinting in the light. He smirked. "I kid you not, vile being. If you wish to shut down X-4, you need to go through these two!"

"…" Ryull sighed. "Look, I know you're insane, but this is just pathetic. Please, can we just skip the battle and get to me destroying the main body part? I want my damned future sight back."

The scientist grinned. "Scared, then?"

Ryull raised an eyebrow. "I think she is." He said, jabbing a claw at the glaceon on the other side of the field, who flinched, ears backwards in a very meek-like way.

Tiris sighed. She recognized both the species that opposed the poison ghost, and they were both generally formidable opponents, but these two examples seemed… not so much.

The first one was a light-blue colored four-legged furred Eon. It was around the same size as all the other evolutions of Eevee, but it had a strange vibrant blue patch of fur on its forehead that double backed into two long strands of fur that hung down. While glaceon like that one were usually renown for their powerful distance attacks, this particular one looked much too meek to do anything. Despite it being pressed meekly against the floor in a way that it was nearly impossible to discern many features, Tiris felt a feminine vibe from the creature and labeled it as such.

The other, on the opposite hand, was a small glowing orange creature, with a small point making up the top of its head. Two small bolts of what seemed to be solid electricity stuck out from the bottom, like appendages, and waved slightly around it. She recognized the creature as a rotom; it was a recently discovered species, and apparently incredibly rare. The Rockets had been attempting to get their hands on one since their discovery, as apparently much of Team Galaxy's famous technology and security advances had come from a single rotom owned by one of team's executives; Galactic Executive Pluto.

Even so, she had heard they weren't particularly formidable in battle, their main jurisdiction being behind-the-scenes technological work. Besides, they were ghost types, and easily vulnerable to a simple Shadow Ball from the gengar.

"Yeah, it'll be difficult to get past the orange dot and Miss. Confident there." The gengar said, crossing his arms. "Honestly, it's not even worth it if you don't even bother to try."

The glaceon flushed, and glared at the Gengar. "I'm m-male!" It said angrily, then as if suddenly realizing what it did, shrunk away.

The gengar stood staring at the ice type for a few seconds. "In that case… that is very, very unfortunate, and you have my condolences. My point still stands."

The scientist smirked. "That's what you think!"

:That the glaceon is male?" Ryull asked, confused.

"…No, that it's going to be easy." The human corrected. "It will not be… Rotom, just do your thing."

The electric type smirked slightly and giggled to itself, before floating backwards. Tiris blinked, not understanding what the creature was doing, before it merged with the large crystalline structure near them, which was apparently designed to contain the computer program. The entire thing glew a bright orange, then floated upwards, a powerful static discharge.

The scientist laughed almost manically. "I call it Rotom- Omega form. What do you think?"

Ryull smirked. "I think I like this." The gengar jumped in mid air, landing on the ground next to the new metallic creature. "Time to fight?"

The rotom-possesed-machine didn't respond, but simply charged at Ryull, who jumped and skidded on the ground out of the way, apparently deciding to take gravity into the equation again. Ryull smirked. "I can possess stuff too, you know. And it doesn't have to be mechanical for me to take control, any ol' thing will do for me. So I think I'll grab…" The gengar looked around for a minute, then got an evil smirk as he glanced over the roof.

"That will do fine…"

Tiris blinked, and looked over the railing. "There's nothing down there… Just some roves, and a heli-" the Kadabra stopped mid-sentence, and glanced over at where the gengar had been. Predictably, he was gone.

The scientist scowled. "What? What is he doing?"

Tiris paused. "I can't be sure, but I think he's-"

"Somebody call?" Said a slightly muffled voice recognizable as Ryull, as a massive black news helicopter pulled up. Predictably, there wasn't anyone in the pilot's seat, and yet it seemed to move on its own.

The glaceon made a loud 'eep' sound, ran behind his master's legs, who sighed and kicked the creature back into the fray. The ice type whined pitifully, then curled up.

Tiris sighed, watching the creature, and wondering exactly what it was doing here. She blinked; something felt odd about the creature's mind, much different than what you'd expect of the average glaceon…

She was interrupted from her thoughts by the Ryull-copter diving down, causing a massive flurry of wind and nearly blowing herself, the human, and the Eon off at the same time. There was a small pause as the vehicle turned around in mid-air, then made a small 'chink' sound.

The scientist's eyes got wide. "There aren't any weapons on News helicopters…"

"Now there are!" Came the cheerful response over the intercom. Almost immediately, a flurry of tiny Shadowball bullets came out, pelting the form of the Rotom- Omega. The creature made a loud sound, obviously being attributed to a cry of pain, and raised a barrier in defence. There was a momentary pause, when then a sudden flash of light was sent out. The Helicopter swerved immediately, but still had a propeller blade severed by the blast.

The scientist cried out in triumph, which fell a moment later when a long tether of black energy appeared, attaching the blade to the propeller still, although several meters ahead. Surprisingly, the entire machine seemed to function perfectly, despite part of the rotor being lopsided- Tiris assumed it was probably the ghost's own levitation abilities just working now.

Obviously, that would take more energy, Tiris decided, but Ryull seemed to have enough to keep it up. And now, he had a long range weapon as the loose blade lashed about like a powerful razor, at a much farther distance from the others.

"Tiris." Came the next crackling words from the helicopter's intercom. The kadabra glanced up as she heard her name said.

"Mind dealing with the Glaceon? I'm not really worried about her-him, but just in case. Besides, it'll be nice practice".

Tiris blinked, and nodded, glancing back at the Glaceon, who was shrinking away, evidently scared half to death.

Tiris wasn't particularly sympathetic. Being a member of team Rocket's laboratories had seen to that, as many of their experiments could be considered cruel, or at least disrespectful. But still, she felt a bit bad about attacking something so, well, pathetic.

She reasoned it'd be best to quickly infiltrate his mind, and send him unconscious. Without saying a word, her eyes glew purple and she reached out telepathically to the glaceon's form.

She didn't see the blue creature flinch, its body shimmering for a second. A moment later, the kadabra's eyes opened wide as he telepathic waves were absorbed, and returned at full force, penetrating her mental defenses like a javelin.

She struggled as memories bubbled to the surface; the Glaceon's panic-stricken invasion of her mind. Obviously it wasn't sure what happened, and Tiris didn't expect that either. The psychic managed to eek out a couple mental words. "_Get. Out."_

There was a mental flinch, and a second later, both creatures stared at each other. The glaceon quickly broke contact, looking downward, before glowing slightly again.

Tiris grumbled slightly, watching the creature. Once again, she caught sight of the oddity of the glaceon's mind; Obviously, it had used Mirror Coat instinctively, and reflected her own mental probing back at her. Fair enough, if she hadn't been distracted by the helpless look of the creature, she might've expected that and prepared herself accordingly.

Still… The kadabra glanced at the glaceon again, and blinked as its eyes glowed purple. A moment later, she heard a loud scractchy swear as Ryull spun out of control for a few seconds. The helicopter reoriented itself a moment later; "The ice type has Mimic? Damn it Tiris, psychic waves mess up my possessions. It's using your technique to try and jam my signal". There was a moment later of grumbling, but the helicopter backed up and the tip glowed brown. A moment later, there was a huge jerk of air as a massive detonation hit the machine.

The scientist smirked as the Rotom- Omega rose from the crater of the Focus Blast attack, completely undamaged.


	23. System Update pt2

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 13**

**-**

**--**

**-**

The entire tower trembled as the force of the energy detonation effectively removed the top layer of stone from the observation deck; Force Blast was a powerful attack on its own, and apparently being launched by Ryull from a Helicopter somehow magnified that.

Tiris personally felt it was a bit irresponsible using an attack like that on a large human construct, that would cause mass damage to the city if it became structurally unsound. Didn't matter to her much, really, she should as she watched the tower passively from the top of another close building. Seconds after she recognized the fighting-type energy attack, she had made a hasty retreat with Teleport. Was she starting care about the humans the tower could hurt if it fell down? Hmm… possibly. It would be an interesting development, at least. She typically didn't have thoughts such as that; She hardly liked to see things unnecessarily dead, but it wasn't often she cared about things that weren't her business, or in her capability of changing.

She felt a small bit of regret that the blast would've undoubtedly killed the glaceon and human that was there in the process, but shrugged, supposing it was necessary. Both of them had been supporting the creature that Ryull wanted destroyed after all; they'd need to be terminated at some point or another. And at least the rotom was destroyed; and, by extension, the shell for the Computer Program that the rotom inhabited would also be destroyed, which is what they came for.

After a few moment, making sure it was safe and the tower wouldn't collapse in on itself, she teleported back to the generator's pinnacle.

She was more than slightly surprised to see the orange-mecha being crawling out from the crater rubble of the top layer of the platform, regarding the Ryull-copter with its eyeless gaze.

She was even more surprised to see both the human and the glaceon has also survived; both appeared to be huddled up in a corner, the later in the former' lap, who was white-faced and scared looking. She smirked slightly at his state, his hair also having lost its perfect shape and shot off in multiple directions.

She smirked slightly, secretly admiring their tenacity (or luck; removing the top layer of a building you're on can't be survived without a fair amount of pure luck), but turned back to watch Ryull continue to fight the electrical ghost. She admitted, she was starting to like the Gengar; his odd ways were strangely enjoyable to watch, not to mention he possessed skill beyond anything she'd personally witnessed before. He seemed to be fairly knowledgeable about the future, or at least he claimed to be anyway. In any case, she didn't regret helping him, although she couldn't really think of anything she did.

She shrugged, watching the Ryull-copter come in for another wave of shadowballs. The orange being responded with a clink, producing a blade of electricity from one of the satellite constructs around it, and cutting deeply into the helicopter, causing it to spark.

Ryull neatly improvised, the helicopter no longer keeping aloft on its own and instead acting as levitating sharp weaponry. One of the helicopter blades was held forward, like a sword, while the other three span needlessly behind it. Several pieces of metal armor and shrapnel revolved around the two, for no apparent reason.

The orange creature made a slight click, and released a massive thunderbolt towards the floating scrap. Instantly, the three connected blades appeared in front of it and span around in a blur, absorbing and redirecting most of the attack. It was followed by the remaining helicopter blade spinning forward towards the mechanical beast, striking its side, but doing nothing noticeable.

There was a distinct sound of disapproval from the floating heap, which soon changed into the gengar's voice, though there wasn't any apparent mouth. "You're pretty good for a Rotom. Then again, it's probably just the body…" There was a brief pause, which was then followed by a near-maniacal set of laughter.

"Well well welly well-well" the gengar's voice came again. This time, however, a mouth did appear; floating in mid-air, with no other visible body, with a toothy phantom grin, smiling at all of them on a roof. A few bits of debris fell from the heap, to some screams from below.

"Ya know, I kinda wanted to avoid this. I mean, it's been forever since I've had a decent fight, aight? I could've just killed him off the bat, after all." A purple arm appeared, to casually gesture at the scientist. More debris fell earthward.

The scientist shivered slightly, probably re-evaluating his career choice, and hugged the glaceon close, apparently out of fear. The later made a small strangled sound, most likely due to actually being strangled, and waved its ligaments in the air.

The rotom was silent and motionless.

The gengar's disembodied grin dropped slightly. "Do you know who you're fucking dealing with anyway? I'm RYULL. I'm the only creature in existence that can get away with insulting the grim reaper, the god of death, frikkin' Giratina, EVERY SINGLE DAY, and do you know why, sparkplug? Because I'm that invaluable. Got that?"

The rest of the gengar's body faded in slowly, the rest of the debris gradually falling down, to more screams. Tiris couldn't resist a wince, though she wasn't entirely sure if it was at the human's cries of peril, or the Gengar's expression, which had abruptly changed from jovial and near-maniacal to rather pissed.

The Rotom was still silent.

Ryull growled. "That's it" he said with grated teeth. Suddenly, the rest of the heap lurched downwards, with the exception of a single propeller blade which leapt forward into the gengar (whose body had promptly visualized)'s waiting claw. Quick as a flash, the ghost leapt forwards, and made a mighty vertical slash downwards over the Rotom, blade burning with ghostly energy.

He found himself grunting slightly, helicopter blade stuck deep in the concrete of the building. The rotom being still stood there, silent and unmoving. It appeared undamaged, except for a thin white scratch documenting the exact path of the blade downwards.

The Gengar swore. Then smiled, larger and bigger than ever before. He let out a laugh, which made Tiris's blood run cold. She'd heard insanity before, but that just sounded…

She shivered as she felt the faintest vibrations of power, pupils growing as she understood what was about to happen. He ran towards the Scientist and Glaceon, who stood frozen steps away, just managing to barrel into them and disappear before the Gengar returned to his senses.

And then, the world exploded.

'_**Tragedy in Mauville!**_

_Several hours ago, there were reports of, quote 'strange figures' on the roof of the Mauville Premier Power Plant, also known as Old Mauville. Since the events recently, the plant had been blocked off with a powerful barrier of some sort; however, apparently creatures had managed to reach their way to the top._

_According to accounts, the figures were roughly of human size and shape, could have been similarly shaped Pokemon from the distance. Minutes after the first sighting, a news helicopter was abducted, and was periodically shredded in an undocumented struggle atop the plant. The figures were, allegedly, still present._

_Less than an hour afterwards, the plant was completely annihilated in a massive explosion radiating from the top. Emergency aid forces were delayed due to recent threats and panic already circulating other strange events circling around the Mauville, area. The explosion was mainly localized to the top of the building, and despite being of impressive force, only inflicted minor structural damage to nearby buildings. The Mauville power plant itself was completely destroyed; Several of the first levels were atomized, whereas the rest were ravaged by incredible temperatures and fell down. Only two floors remain standing. Apparently, the blast had somehow neutralized and destroyed the generators safely, preventing a larger and more uncontainable explosion._

_It is still unknown how the detonation was caused; witnesses described it as a bright flash of 'black' light, such us in a Shadowball or Dark Pulse attack, but it has not been confirmed as for the source. This is Mauville City News: Bringing it when the other's won't!_

Ezekiel yawned, and changed the channel with a claw. Human news, boring. Though, he had to admit, he was somewhat impressed by the footage of the boom- he vaguely wondered if one of the higher-ups of Fenrir were involved. Unlikely, he supposed; Giratina liked to be subtle.

Could be Ryull, he mused. Then again, theoretically the Gengar could be behind anything; he was fairly certain that thousands of years of living with Future Sight in effect warped the elder ghost's mind beyond any semblance of repair.

He glanced around, chuckling slightly as he saw the two water weasel Pokemon flirting off in the kitchen. The humans wandered around somewhat aimlessly, obviously disturbed and not knowing what to do, though they stopped to talk every so often.

The one that looked and sounded like a pirate was the worst though. Three times he actually fired a gunshot into the ceiling. Insane. Even his partners weren't that bad.

Speaking of them, he mused to himself, he craned his long neck to take a look at Ocean. The pikachu was also angry, though at the moment she was sleeping; her ear twitched occasionally, while curled up on a small stack of blankets off to the side. She'd woken twice so far; the second time coinciding with the third gunshot of the human. There was a reason there weren't any more gunshots or her waking up since then.

He yawned and picked his teeth, vaguely wondering what Baou was doing. He never had any fun on missions while the Sableye was out on other work, generally working in that library of his back in the home base. True, he wasn't on a _mission, _per say; time with Sasha was the equivalent of days off, so he really shouldn't complain; but it was disappointing to say the least.

Though in retrospect, maybe he should be. All this weird stuff, with the psycho machines and whatnot… it reeked of something Fenrir would be interested in. And yet, he hadn't even gotten a visit from the pretty shapeshifting Mismagius (about as low as you can go while still being on the top tier of the Fenrir totem pole) since all this started; his unit was the most effective (living) Fenrir unit, and they usually got people calling them to do all sorts of silly little things every so often. Even Omen, the leader dropped by every so often to offer a job or whatnot to them.

He vaguely wondered if he should get Sasha to call Hiromi out of her ball, but quickly decided against it. The houndoom was generally best left undisturbed when kept in a closed space, especially when she has nothing to do. Heck, even back at the base, she spent the majority of her time messing with newbies, training, or secretly pining after that blank-looking Umbreon who's been Ryull's personal toady since forever. Under normal circumstances, he'd have fun poking at her about the last one, but something in his gut told him to let it go.

Zeke paused to think why, then shrugged. Well, he didn't really trust Ryull at all- anyone legitimately insane should not, under any circumstances, be made a friend, females excepting as they can't help it. He supposed Baou would also fall under that, but the Sableye was consistent enough when he needed to. Just a little… eccentric otherwise. In any case, he trusted someone he personally raised from birth even less. Despite the mix of his fear for, and enjoyment of annoying, Hiromi, he did feel a little protective of the Houndour he knew since he was a trapinch. Making a big deal out of a crush could lead to people talking, people talking could reach the Umbreon himself… and Zeke didn't like other people to have leverage over his team mates.

The desert dragon shrugged, and settled back into the couch. He had a vague wish for someone to suddenly come in, guns blazing, as he noticed another human daytime drama crop up on Tv. Seriously, they were inventive enough to make a box that displayed moving pictures, but not enough to make it show anything worth watching?

He blinked as it suddenly fizzled out. Moments later, it was followed by the lights.

He heard a human swear. "Well, there goes out backup generator." It has the pirate-human.

---

…"What're you doing?" A somewhat irritated houndoom asked, rolling his eyes at the white-furred cellmate next to him.

"Willing myself out." The eevee said in response, focusing and closing his eyes. He kept it up for a few minutes, then abruptly collapsed moments.

"No good" he muttered.

The former pack leader snorted, and rolled his eyes again. "If it were that easy, we'd be out by now. Face it, we're stuck."

Ven growled in response. "I've already tried everything else, and I'm sick of getting stuck in cages. I swear, the next person that tries to shove me into a cage or tie me up…"

The houndoom smirked. "Eevee, do me a favor. Make sure your mate's a grass, psychic, or non-furred fire type."

The albino blinked. "Why those specificially?" He paused again. "And why non-furred fire types?"

The dark type shrugged. "Just saying. They all have a similar quality I'm sure you'd enjoy. And non-furred fire types because most furred ones don't have the quality I'm mentioning, obviously."

The albino rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Like I'd take advice from a ruffian like you. Seriously, you guys are the scum of the civilized Pokemon."

The houndoom chuckled quietly. "So you've said. Did you tell Perdita that?"

Ven scoffed. "You're sick."

"All I said was a name."

Ven grunted. "The name of someone you were about to rape."

The fire-dark type shrugged in response, then started licking some disordered fur on his side dispassionately. "You don't see me knocking your way of life."

"You tried to kill me!"

"Only after you tried to kill me."

The white Eevee growled again. "You were hurting a friend of mine!"

The houndoom shrugged again. "Once again, you don't hear me knocking your life style. Plus, I highly doubt she was a friend. She's been in the pack since birth, whereas you've been too busy memorizing constitutions and learning how to lick boots to take a step out of your high-and-mighty castle. And for the record, I'm not as 'uncouth' as you think I am; don't deny it. I can read, and I read newspapers. Aren't you the pet of that human who died a while ago?"

Ven grunted. "Maybe."

The houndoom grinned. "Then how are you looking down at me? We all fill the bill that we're born into. If you were born into my clan and vice-versa, I guaranty you wouldn't be as cultured or likeable as I am now."

Ven scoffed. "Doubtful."

The darkfire Pokemon smirked again. "Why, are you resorting to one word answers now? Your literacy classes and extensive thesaurus memorization failing you now?"

Ven's ear twitched, as he groomed it. He muttered begrudgingly. "I didn't memorize thesauruses. And you had the same opportunity I did. You said you were my sister's mate, you could've used her to get as high up as I am."

The canine snorted. "Not the type of 'born into' I mean. You grew up with a certain set of ideals and standards of perfection, undoubtedly set by humans. I grew up with a vicious pack of my own kind. No changing that kind of thing." The canine stretched out; keeping a careful eye on not overextending past the barriers of the invisible cell he was kept in.

Ven grunted again, grooming himself. The two stayed in silence for a few more minutes, until Ven suddenly broke the silence. "Why the hell are you being civil?"

The canine shrugged. "Why not? This way I gain some conversation, and I can't attack you anyway, so why not." He smirked. "I'm not surprised to see you don't repeat the gesture. You higher ups generally don't."

Ven snarled. "You hurt someone who was practically defenseless, nearly slaughtered me, and made my one of my sister's lives a miserable hell. Should I be civil?"

The canine snorted again. "Miserable hell? If she had been less of a complete wuss that flinched at everything, then maybe I would've been lighter on her. But the way I see it, it's her fault for getting too close to a fire. She should've known she'd get burned."

Ven glared. "You call that a legitimate excuse?"

The houndoom shrugged. "It's A excuse, that's good enough for me. I don't need to justify myself to you because, frankly, I'm not a good person. Face it kid, you can't be. Not everyone was given everything on a silver platter, and it's competition for everything else after people like you've been served. Your sister was my chance to show those people on their shiny pedestals what it's like down here."

Ven shrugged. "You could always go into the wild."

The canine laughed, a short and dark laugh. "Think we haven't tried that? Kid, the forests round here are dead and bare. There are precious few places were prey still lives, and there's already plenty of competition. When it comes down to it, the pitiful amount we have here is a bounty compared to out there."

Ven was silent at that one.

- - -

In the rubble of a destroyed building, there was a massive pile of debris. Twisted metal, concrete, and shrapnel from several plastic products was brought together with invisible pieces of glass in order to create an obelisk of all that was remaining of Old Mauville, the main generator for the majority of Hoenn.

It was an unmovable, nigh-permanent blockade of destruction that the gengar had left deliberately as a warning.

Unfortunately for it, the Gengar still lacked his future sight.

The large obelisk was easily carved through with lances of energy from a spherical object, who emerged from the top of the rubble. It was a golem-like creature, with several floating scrutctures revolving around it; despite it looking almost exactly like the creature the Gengar had tangled with, it however, was not electric orange.

The rotom had done a good job stalling. But now the plan was being put into action.

A disc appeared in mid air, held up by psychic waves. There was a brief moment as the mechanical structure absorbed the information. Immediately afterwards, the circular saving device was vaporized, dust in the wind.

'_**Second disc assimilated' **_A robotic voice announced.


	24. Opening a new Tab

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 14**

**-**

**--**

**-**

Jet growled, eyes wide as he surveyed the destruction in front of him. The Umbreon's usually passive eyes were wide, filled with surprise and disbelief, if not fear. He shook his head, muttering to himself. "Ryull…Ry-Girtina-fucking-ull, what the HELL did you do this time?" The Umbreon turned around in a circle, muttering and swearing to himself intelligibly for a few moments. After he calmed down, he sat down, and thought.

"Alright." He said aloud. "So, Ryull went nuts. I can deal with that. Fine. He was already insane." His ears twitched slightly towards the wreckage of the massive building. He blinked and twitched his nose as the unpleasant scent of burnt debris reached his sensitive nose, but otherwise didn't show any other particular reaction to the wreckage itself, aside from the faint disappointment that the scent of sulfur and vaporized building materials masked any blood from being smelled.

He sighed, and closed his eyes. He had ditched Orin and Ceila a while ago, after leading them to Shira- their eldest sibling and his birth twin. The Flareon had seen them in, and Jet had left moments after that; he had aided them somewhat, which was all Ryull wanted him to do. He personally would've spit in Orin's face when he asked for help, or better yet, never even let him know they were related in the first place, if it weren't for the Gengar's intervention.

Jet scowled. Ryull, Ryull, Ryull. It seemed everything in his life revolved around the Giratina-forsaken Gengar these days. He was kidnapped as a newborn kit by the ghost several years ago, and since then, was raised as his 'apprentice'. Perhaps a more likely term for his position was 'buttmonkey', as he served an extremely minor role outside from serving as someone for the higher-level members of Fenrir to make fun of. His actual lessons which aided him in his 'official' jobs from Ryull were few and far between, although he did begrudgingly admit they were memorable; if only for the trauma they inflicted on him as a young kit.

He smirked. Dissecting a Flareon had seemed much more horrifying to him at the tender age he had been at when said lesson had taken place, than it did now. He couldn't even recall if it had been alive or not when the lesson was taught. Well, he reasoned, if it was, it wasn't alive for long. At least it taught him what he needed about anatomy; he had studied the veins of the body, organs, and all such medical business rather thoroughly under the tutelage of the then-Misdreavous Nagimi, and their book-keeper, the Sableye Baou. Ryull hadn't stayed behind for anything other than the mentioned dissection.

And then there was the matter of his 'gift'.

Jet frowned sourly at the memory. He had been a young kit for that too; Couldn't have been any older than one year old at the time, maybe less; he couldn't recall if it took place before, or after the dissection lesson.

Quite simply, he had died. He had just been called in for a lesson from the Gengar, when he was telekinetically pinned (rather violently, he might add) against a wall, then skewered through the center with… some long, sharp weapon, he couldn't remember exactly what.

He repressed a shiver. Afterwards, there was a long period of panic; he couldn't see, hear, or feel anything but darkness. It felt as if he had been dropped into water so cold his nerves had quickly frozen over. He had no sense of time, no way to measure how long he was without sense; Afterwards, the Gengar had told him he was dead for a period of exactly twelve minutes, fourty-seven seconds.

Obviously, the ghost had restored his soul to his body, after making quick repairs to make sure his body could live again. It was all rather easy, the ghost had said, due to the clean kill he had gotten through the stomach and chest. The part that took the majority of the time had to do with his soul itself;

Apparently, the gengar had cauterized a small, expertly pinpointed point of his mind, before returning his soul back to his body; and with it, he had added a fragment of his own ectoplasm and consciousness, intended to replace that part of the mind permanently.

He didn't understand it much, though he did understand the implications. Due to the part of ectoplasm inserted into his soul, he quite literally could not die.

Well, not permanently, at least.

The Umbreon stretched his legs out, as he looked around. Well, it was possible to 'kill' him, per say; he wasn't immortal in that respect. But no matter how mutilated his body was, even if it were burned into ashes, the part of Ryull would use telekinesis and ghostly abilities to draw the molecules back into position, before placing his soul back in the same position it had been. Of course, more damage to the body would increase the amount of time needed to repair the wound; Slashing his throat, for example, might take only seconds to repair, while burning him to ash might take days to regenerate. He wasn't sure; he hadn't tested the second one personally, only gone on what Ryull had said.

Apparently, there were only three ways to stop the effect; One would be to remove the part of Ryull's essence from his soul, which would immediately alert Ryull to what had happened, so he would know to manually resurrect the Umbreon himself. Secondly would be to kill him within a Ghost barrier; due to ectoplasm failing to work in such constructs, the portion of Ryull's consciousness would remain dormant. Of course, the moment it exited said barrier, it would immediately activate again, so that potentially wasn't a permanent solution.

The third, of course, would be to destroy Ryull himself, causing the smaller portion to deactivate. That was unlikely, as the ghost already had a two-thousand year streak of living.

Jet stretched out his hind legs, before turning to leave. By all means, he should've checked around to see if all the souls of those killed in the accident (if there were any; Jet doubted destruction like that could happen without a casualty) had successfully passed on to the Realm of Mists, but screw it. If Ryull wanted to cause wanton destruction like that, he could pick up his own mess; the gengar abused his ability to do whatever he wanted without Giratina intervening even more than usual the past few months. He doubted even the age-old ghost's ability of clairvoyance would be able to protect him when the Dragon guardian of Death caught wind of this; such easily-traceable destruction, to a city so close to Fenrir even!

He momentarily noticed several duck-like silver constructs moving along the road, but ignored them as they bypassed him, more than likely going to the wreckage he had left behind him. He had noticed them for the past little while; only half a day or so ago, one had tried to assault him. He had shown it who was stronger, of course, and he believed the remains were still to be found in one of the alleyways. The day he allowed himself to be killed by such a ridiculous enemy, would be the day he sired a heir with that Lucario that kept trying to kill him. And succeeded on multiple occasions, actually, but that was not the point.

"Hey, you!" He heard someone call. He continued walking, and it wasn't until a few moments later he realized the call was directed at him. He turned slightly bad-temperedly, eyes flashing bright for a second to make it clear he wasn't to be trifled with.

"Yeah, you." He blinked as the caller didn't seem intimidated, though his companion did. He was a lithe-looking blue-furred creature, with a tan underbelly and face and green eyes that seemed to sparkle with humor at his attempt to intimidate him. Of course, the most noticeable aspect about the creature were the fiery quills that were all along its back, but Jet chose to ignore that, instead sneering slightly. Walking with the Quilava was a fairly scared-looking small bipedal creature with short pink fur, a striped tail with an orb at the tip, and wool covering the chest and head. A pair of short striped horns also prodded from the second creature's temples; it looked female and distinctly nervous, in direct contrast to her partner.

"I'm Narcissus; call me Narc. She's Renee." The Quilava said, jutting a claw at the Flaafy."

Jet paused for a second, then raised an eyebrow. "Fine. I don't care. Goodbye." He said, turning to leave, only for Narc to run next to him, much too close for his comfort.

"We were wondering if you knew anything about those Pyrigon-" The fire type paused, and glanced at his companion. "Err, Porygon that are running around. They seem a little agitated, and they don't seem to be bugging us or you, ya know."

Jet growled, obviously wishing for the two to be on their way. He hated crowds, and hated individual people talking to him almost as much.

"You don't say." He said, voice thick with sarcasm. "And of course, I would know something about that. Because EVERY random umbreon you meet on the street has the answer to your questions. Goodbye."

He staked off pointedly, mentally daring the Quilava to come up again. If he did, he wouldn't hesitate to take a chunk out of his neck; He was angry at Ryull at the moment, and just got rid of his two siblings. He didn't need two OTHER morons.

He smiled slightly as he realized the two creatures weren't coming after him, showing a couple of his impressive fangs. Obviously, they were smarter than the average dumbass.

He glanced around, wondering what to do now. Ryull or any other Fenrir members weren't around, and he hadn't any way to get back to Fenrir other than walking, which would take several hours. And, despite being incapable of death and an agent of a legendary himself, Giratina, Jet admitted he was a lazy bastard and refused to walk that distance when someone forgot to pick him up.

He mentally mused that this was his first time off, where he didn't have any duties or whatever, outside of Fenrir since…

He paused for a moment, then kept walking. Well, since ever; the umbreon had spent the vast majority of his life within Fenrir's perimeter, with only the occasional escorted mission outside to gather up souls that stuck around for whatever reason. The vaguely recalled his first trip; that had been interesting, if only because it was the first time he saw anything like him. That is, with actual flesh and blood, instead of just ectoplasm.

He scowled slightly. Even though Fenrir employed many living Pokemon to do work, only a few were allowed clearance into the main base, and apparently Ryull instructed them specifically not to meet him. He hadn't the foggiest idea why he did that, although he had the suspicion it had something to with psychological torture. So it was no wonder why he didn't like crowds.

He smirked slightly. Well, at least now he had some time to himself. Let's see, what could he do? He shrugged slightly, and kept walking, sure he'd find something as long as more jackasses didn't tag along.

- - -

I yawned slightly as I kept my eyes on the small black dot, moving around the other vaguely colored dots in a sea of even more dots. Dot, dot, dotty dot do. What's with humans and making everything look like dots from a distance? Would even dots look like dots form a distance? Or maybe they'd look like something else entirely… hmm, I once heard of that dot art, where you made a picture from dots. So dots do look like different things from a distance?

Oh wait, Jet. Almost forgot.

I looked through my aura, and instantly located the Umbreon's unique aura signature. Geeze, he moves fast than I remember…

I quickly sprinted over to another vantage point, not minding the small sticks and other debris I trampled up as my long, vaguely human legs sprinted across the foresty lip of the city; How lucky was it that he decided to walk around a part of the city that I could find a natural vantage point from? I liked forests much better than buildings, rocks scratched my feet and felt uncomfortable and cement is just an annoying material in one way. It's scratchy enough to break through my tough fur if I hit it hard enough, but brittle enough to accidentally break it with a misplaced attack. Icky stuff all around.

Heh, icky. Haven't used that word in a while. Last time was when I saw that Paras, actually. Eugh, Paras are icky. It's not because they're bugs, really, it's just… well, they have MUSHROOMS growing on their back! Eugh, and I even hear some of them are even controlled by their mushrooms. Apparently fungus have a brain and can do that. Who knew, a plant with a mind.

Well, aside from Sunflora and the like… yeah. Oh, right, Jet.

I opened my aura again, and once again located the Umbreon. Sheesh, he's fast. I'd attack him just to get him to slow down, but I still hadn't recovered from the last time.

I winced, grasping one of my fists at the memory. Normally my metallic fur can deflect any but the strongest attacks, but some of those strikes HURT; and fighting Jet while partially lame wasn't a good idea. That Curse took me by surprise; he hadn't pulled a trick like that before. If he had been more perceptive, I'd probably be dead by now. And considering the temperament of said Umbreon, it wouldn't be a pleasant death either.

But oh well, the money I was being paid to simply keep the guy busy was sufficient enough for me to keep doing it. 'Sides, I was much more skilled than he was; it said something about the gap in our abilities, when, after fourteen meetings, I came out with a perfect score. Still, he was closing the jap…

I continued watching the black dot (Heh…dot), until it turned a corner. I dashed forward, glancing at a short building. I quickly ran, then lept at the wall with my legs absorbing the blow; using that force as momentum, I propelled myself upward, somersaulted in the air once to use up the extra air I had, then landed on the roof.

I smirked. "Beats you, Berthoud." I muttered, before running and jumping over to the next roof in the line. Berthoud was the nonexistent friend I made up one day after six consecutive hours of staying absolutely still and silent, observing. What was –odd- was, despite being nonexistent, he was quite a braggart. What was –scary- was that I automatically knew when I surpassed him or not, despite him having never done anything, due to reasons of non-existence. What was –insane- was that, despite never done anything (Due to previously mentioned reasons), he also earned a similarly non-existent mate and had taken a non-existent vacation from scouting with me in order to spend more time with his non-mate and raise a couple of little nothings.

I blinked, before glancing out at the crowd again. Wait, did I lose my little black spec again? I've gotta stop having these long inner moments of exposition, they're never worth the lack of concentration.

After identifying his positin with a quick aura check, I lept off after him, using my powerful scout's legs to run along the rooftops of the shorter buildings. I was momentarily stumped when the smallish residences and shops gave into the skyscraper district, but quickly solved that by jumping off the roof onto the street itself.

The Umbreon was getting a little paranoid, I noticed. Once he stopped being so much of a speck, I mainly relied on the crowd and objects like trees and ducking behind small buildings to stop him from recognizing. Which, I've made apparent would be bad. Very bad. Very, very, bad.

And I don't use two 'very' s for no reason, I always make sure it's appropriately dangerous and/or unlucky before I add the second. Hell, one time-

NO! FOCUS!

I vaguely wondered what a psychic type who couldn't focus would be like, before returning to stalking the cute psychopathic murderer.

…What?

So I think he's cute, that's obvious. I think everyone I hunt's cute, it's a mental trick. If they're repulsive, I don't want to follow them. I subconsciously want to run away, or tell them they're fat. But if I trick my mind into thinking they're cute, then I'll follow them over the edge of the world.

Of course, that has the unfortunate effect of nigh-everyone I've considered for a mate has been indirectly killed by me, but that's the price you pay for doing my job.

Note I said 'indirectly'. I'm not an assassin, damnit, and I hate people who tell me I am. I'm a scout; if you want me to find someone, track someone, wait for someone, I'm your girl. If you want me to do anything else, you better have a checkbook. Or be taking me out to dinner later, one of the two.

Jet's, obviously, an exception as he has this habit of not dying. I should know, I've been trying to gain a little bonus for the past fourteen encounters. The employer pays me more than I got for any other job for simply keeping him busy, but the bonus for permanently killing him was a tasty snack I wanted a bite of.

…

So I like money, that's not a crime, is it? I sleep out in the wilderness enough as it is on jobs, I don't need to do it when I'm off duty too, so I like to have a nice apartment to return back to after missions. Course' I get a couple odd stares when I go to the ice machines, but telepathy has the advantage of being able to communicate with humans with something other than a complex sign language.

I blinked. Damn, lost track of that guy –again-. I scanned the crowd; come on, I could recognize that tail from a mile away. After a few seconds of fruitless tail-searching-for, I activated my aura sight again, and quickly identified his position.

Finally, this time he was inside a building. A Jeweler's shop from the looks of it, what could he want there? I shrugged, and ran after him. Since he was in a shelter, I didn't need to bother disguising myself in the crowd, and hastily pushed my way through the people. The majority of them were moving in the opposite direction for some reason; something about a giant explosion, I couldn't really remember. I think I was either too busy staring at his tail or eyes, one of the two extremes. I find that's a very useful tip for observation, find a part of the body of the subject you're fond and simply pay attention to it.

I shook my head, and continued my trek to the store; it didn't take that long after I stopped expositating. I blinked; the sign had a small white paw print symbol after the store name (Which was written in some dialect of human I didn't understand the written word of; probably Orren or something. Curse humans and their fondness of naming things in more written languages than is feasible!)

I blinked, then gasped with glea as I caught sight of the wares displayed on the glass wall near the door. Glittering watches, necklaces, rings, set with big and small glittering, colored stones, all shining in the day light...

I giggled at the expensive, pretty looking things, wishing I had my money on me to buy something. Then again, the price tag on those things looked humungous; I'd need a big fat check from my provider next time to afford an impressive looking one.

I knew I probably couldn't afford any of them at the moment, but I clicked my tongue slightly. Surely there wasn't a problem with going inside for a peek… was there? I couldn't recall.

I shook my head, and walked through the door. To my surprise, sitting at the counter wasn't a human like I expected, but a burly-looking Drapion.

I blinked.

The Drapion blinked at me.

I blinked again.

The Drapion went back to its newspaper.

I shook my head. Well, that was an odd image; an accordion-shaped poisonous predator of the dark, acting as a store clerk. Well, on one hand it made sense; who was going to rob a store manned by something that could probably crack one of the diamonds in its teeth? And they had really good eyesight too, from what I heard, so trying to trade one a fake gem probably wouldn't work.

At any rate, it didn't seem concerned with the fact the lights weren't on, but neither was I, really. Although it did make some of the gems look less sparkly.

"May I help you, madam?" I heard a quiet, polite voice say. I blinked, glanced around in confusion a little, then stifled a small chuckle as I caught sight of a Scorupi near me, actually wearing a tie. Unfortunately, since a Scorupi's body proportions weren't exactly made for ties, it was easy to asses that the scorpion had no idea what to do with it, and ended up tangled in its legs. Still, it managed to walk. And looked a little cute, as far as Scorupi go.

"No, thank you." I said, polite as I could. "Just looking for now."

The Scorupi nodded, and scampered off to do… Scorupi things, I assumed. What DID those things do anyway? Their body proportions didn't really give them a wide range of hobbies to choose from… Well, aside from the Drapion, obviously enthralled with the either the Newspaper's Sudoku or Comics section.

I glanced at the glass cases full of the valuable objects, and wasn't disappointed. There were things of every valuable metal, gem, and otherwise one could want…

I felt my eyes go wide into the face Berthoud would call my 'Riolu face', due to my habit of looking like a curious Riolu while I do it. I liked to think that meant it was more cute than immature. Or maybe both, who knew?

I paused for a second, then glanced at an Umbreon who was plainly staring openly at me. I muttered to him, a little irritated ;

"Do you mind?" I snapped, before returning to looking at the valuable gems. One of the dark Eevee evolution's eyebrows skyrocketed.

"You are…" He started, slowly.

"Soleil." I said in response, not taking my eyes off the assorted rings and things. Heh, I rhymed in my mind.

The Umbreon paused. "Ah. And, you're… not attacking me?"

"Mhm, perceptive, aren't we?" I responded, tapping a finger against me head, still not looking at him.

There was a long pause.

"I see…"


	25. Process initialized

Ello' everyone. Just as a short note, future updates should be a little quicker, now that I'm on a good track with this story arc. So don't worry, there aren't any more foreseeable delays... Unless I happen to get arthritis, or have a door slam on my hand again. My hands are put through so much abuse these days...

~B.O.D.

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 15**

**-**

**--**

**-**

"DEMOTED?" Ryull thundered, his voice booming loudly, which would have easily shattered any glass if there had been any in the area; there wasn't. Giratina, the king of ghosts and Lord of the Hidden Mists preferred stone, or just pure ectoplasm when it came to his lair. At the moment, said king of the undead denizens of the world lay apparently sitting down, his form obscured by a mantle of crackling dark purple energy.

Despite being one of the strongest creatures in the known universe, the necromantic dragon had been unable to cross that simple barrier for at least... five hundred years at the very least. It wasn't even a curse, or anything; it's just that, even the king of the dead couldn't enter the living world without some form of a physical body. Hypothetically, he could've just possessed a creature, but that would render him weak and at a great disadvantage; being killed while possessing a creature, without a physical body of your own, invariably ends in your complete dissipation from existence.

Of course, all those thoughts ran simultaneously through Ryull's mind, who seemed to be grasping at straws for why he shouldn't listen to this creature. He was RYULL- Gengar of the most extraordinary breed, one of the eldest creatures in the world, and strongest phantom in existence, bar two.

Of course, his mind rebutted that this creature was Giratina- creator of the afterlife, tied for title of THE eldest THING in existence, and strongest ghostly creature in existence, bar none.

He had before always been contented with his ability for unparalleled view into the future- an ability Giratina, and probably even Arceus herself, lacked. Unfortunately, he found himself slightly impaired in that area at the moment, and Giratina seemed to have somehow picked up.

"_Make no mistake, Ryull". _The Dragon began. It should've been impossible to notice, but the gengar swore he heard a hint of smugness in his voice. _"You are one of my most useful servants. Your dynamic abilities and unique talent have granted you privileges that I can assure you, no other ghostly creature in history have ever received. Even Omen does not rival you in terms of general use… unfortunately; all the potential you contain is for naught, as you lack the basic aspects I require of one of your caliber. Obedience. Loyalty. COMMON SENSE."_

Ryull found himself wincing at that one. The dragon's voice had picked up for a moment, and Ryull could feel the entire chamber tremble with rage at the same time. Even though he was essentially trapped in a different dimension, the Legendary of Death's presence could be felt. Ryull even noted his own ectoplasm seemed to be angry at him- which was interesting. Apparently, Giratina had some control over ectoplasm even after it was changed into a (in a manner of speaking) living ghost.

"I destroyed a threat to our operations. Does that not justify my use of… force?"

The dragon seemed to chuckle grimly. Once again, the passage reacted; this time by vibrating slightly.

"_No."_ He responded simply. "_No, it does not. Not at this time. Not in the future you seem to cherish so much. And not in the past. You incinerated a building, a main building admired and often used by the humans of the nearby city and country as a whole. You did so in a way that is fairly easy to trace. And you did so because you lost your temper, not because of any real need to do so."_

Ryull found himself growling slightly.

"_Were you anyone else, you would've been immediately destroyed. Loose cannon ghosts are not worth potentially attracting the attentions of Arceus. Your rank, nothing else, saved you."_

Ryull snorted slightly and crossed his arms. He wasn't taken to being threatened.

"_And…" _Giratina continued. _"You failed in your task in any case."_

Ryull did a double take. "How so, Tina?" he asked, still growing his words, his smile now a large frown.

"_The digital entity still lives. It continued with its update unhindered. While you were attempting to simply overpower the creature, with no thought, as you often do, Omen has been locating possible other sites where the creature may strike. Take note of that; Omen, despite being stronger than you, and certainly stronger than the creature, he still seeks a more efficient way of eliminating the enemy than attacking head on. You are much too egotistical. And because of that, your duties- ALL of your duties, even ones you retained after losing your title of leader- have been realloted to Omen." _

Ryull glared at the creature. "You can't-"

The shadow beyond the veil's eyes began glowing red. The stones around them shook violently, and Ryull received a sensation not entirely like his body attempting to tear itself apart. _'I MAY DO WHATEVER I WISH!' _ the stones quieted down, and the legendary added with a sneer. _'You are my servant, Ryull, nothing more. I suggest you take note of that also. You have been dismissed from Fenrir; attempt unauthorized reentry, and you will be dealt with like any other intruder. If you wish to return, I suggest you eliminate the creature you created…" _The creature's eyes started glowing red again. _"And without further incident." _

Ryull nodded slightly, grimly. He didn't say anything, but simply faded away from Giratina. The draconian ghost had nothing else to say, evidently, as it let him leave unhindered.

Ryull sighed to himself, slightly. So, it was fairly obvious what happened now… he was dismissed from Fenrir, and if he wanted to rejoin, he had to destroy the machine that made a mockery out of him. Fine, fair enough.

But he couldn't do it alone, the Gengar mused to himself. He had tried using brute force on it, and hadn't been able to do more than slightly scratch it. If dropping a building and an Explosion of that magnitude didn't hinder it, the Gengar wondered if he was even capable of destroying it at full force. He would have to use strategy…

The Gengar paused, then giggled to himself. The giggling changed into mad laughter as the scenery filled in around him.

This was the most _fun _he had in years!

* * *

Timeria glanced around, a feeling of foreboding overtaking her small body.

"Well, there goes the back up generator." One of the humans muttered, leaning against a wall. Timeria blinked… she supposed that was why the lights went out. Even so, that didn't explain why she felt so tense… it was a bit like when she was swimming, how she would instinctively know if Sharpedo were around. Just a dark, deep feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Something wrong?" Zeal said to her, walking up to her. She paused for a second, not sure how to answer.

"I don't know. I just think tha-"

She flinched as one of the walls exploded inward, sending her to the floor. Frantic glances around noted her that most of the others were down two; Zeal quickly snarled at the intruder, already on his feet. The Flygon also go up, cracking his claws.

Silhouetted in the ruins of the wall was one of the grey Porygon. Timeria felt herself growl slightly at it; What were these things, and why were they attacking her?

Then, she blinked slightly, as she noted it didn't look like the others. For one, it was wobbling slightly. And it appeared to have… Sparks? Flowing from it, like it were unstable. A couple moments later, it loosed another massive attack; A powerful burst of white energy flowed out from the tip of its head, into a corner, instantly vaporizing some of the mortar. Timeria ducked down and covered her head from the various debris.

She heard Zeal snarl. "It's strong. It's letting off Hyper Beams like it doesn't even feel them. What kind of- Eh?" The Floatzel paused, surprised. The Porygon, after using the second attack, was now visibly wobbling. It swerved drunkenly in the air for a few seconds, before crumbling to the ground in a heap, sparking feebly.

A second later, Narc and a Flaafy entered. The fire type smirked. "Miss me?"

Timeria just blinked. "What… just happened here?"

Narc smirked, and raised his paw, revealing two thick black cables in them. "Apparently, they need these. I tore them out a few minutes ago, and it just went around blowing stuff up for a while before doing that-" he gestured at the crumbled heap.

"Uh… well done?" Sean said, coughing slightly from the debris blown up from the partial destruction of the building, watching the Quilava incredulously.

"You're still here? Aww." Narc said, sounding legitimately disappointed. Timeria quirked an eyebrow.

"So, where's the rest?" The Quilava asked, brushing notably past the female buizel. Timeria bristled slightly, and spat a small Water Gun at him; the Quilava winced slightly, but simply flared up his fire again.

"Rest?" She asked, blinking.

"You know…" Narc quickly found the cough and laid down on it lazily, shoving the Flygon's tail out of the way. "Ven, that Raichu, Tiris, and that weird floaty- thingy."

Timeria blinked, pausing. "Ray was caught by those weird things a while ago… I haven't seen Tiris or Ven since they split to go around the city on their own. Not sure where the Tentacool got to."

"Alright!" They were all startled, as they heard a human bang on one of the tables. Narc quirked an eyebrow, noting the initiator of the sound was the strange human who kept making him do weird things.

"We're decided, then." Sean continued, brushing his sandy locks away from his eyes. "We'll have to take down the main one of those. It's our duty!"

Sasha nodded in response, giggling slightly to herself. "Sounds like fun."

Zack also nodded, grabbing a tricorn hat from a nob on the wall, and plopping it on his head, a completely serious expression still one his face. "The bastard took my Gyarados. It'll pay for that. She was one of my first Pokemon."

Sean nodded, then paused, grinning. "That was that Magicarp you had? I thought you ate it. You got it to evolve?"

Zack nodded, still looking solemn. "It was a near thing. And yes, I did. Don't question my ability. Now…"

He grinned.

"I think it's time I brought out the big guns." He smirked, then grabbed a pair of Net Balls from his waist, expanding them before tossing them. Two creatures formed on each side of him; the first was a strange bipedal creature, with a wide disc-like head and what appeared to be long sickles for arms. As the light dimmed, it was revealed to be a brown, shellfish-like creature with grey plates on its chest.

"Kabu…tops…" It said dangerously, glancing around, as if for an opponent. Timeria blinked, noting it had (literally) said its name, instead of just sounds whose' tones could be translated to the universal language Pokemon spoke.

The other creature that appeared was also large, but of an entirely different shape. It appeared to have no legs, instead having a medium sized tail the body tapered down into. Its head was long and apparently had some sort of proboscis on it, with two horns coming from the back. A moment later revealed it to be a blue-scaled creature, looking ancient with slightly tattered fins. It hovered an inch or so off the ground, regarding everyone passively, glancing around the room. It paused when it noted the hole in the wall.

"_Disagreement?" _in an odd tone of voice. Timeria blinked, attempting to figure it out… it sounded as if it were speaking telepathically, out-loud, if that made any sense. Oddly enough, its voice sounded much younger than its body did.

She heard Sean whistle.

"A Kabutops? Daaamn man, you've been holding back. When'd you get that thing?"

Zack simply smiled. "I traded off my Milotic for a Kabuto, I think it was to the daughter of a scientist or something… she was really moody, and I couldn't get her to do anything." Zack paused. "At least, I think it was a female Milotic. I wasn't able to check."

Sean raised an eyebrow. "Right."

Sasha simply giggled again, and released a pokeball of her own. A couple moments later, a black furred canine with large horns, and what appeared to be an extra set of ribs over the skin, materialized, grooming herself.

Zeke waved a claw. "Hey, Hiromi."

Hiromi ignored the dragon, opting to continue grooming, muttering. "Hello, jerk ass."

Zack smirked. "So, Sean, what do you have hidden up your sleaves?"

The younger trainer blinked, then pointed at Narc. "Err… him."

Zack chuckled. "Thought as much. Overachiever I see."

Sean fumed, putting both his hands behind his head.

Timera rolled her eyes at the human, and looked around for Zeal. She found the elder water type standing in a corner, glaring at Narc. Obviously something about the Quilava rubbed him the wrong way. Timeria could relate.

She walked over and cuddled up to him, giving a quick lick to his cheek. "Doing alright?" She asked, vaguely aware of one of her tails touching his side. Hey, it had been a while since she had last flirted, and she assumed the art of subtlety would take a little while in return.

The Floatzel grunted, and grinned slightly. "Yeah." He said, still looking at Narc. "Something about that Quilava seems untrustworthy. He just…"

"Rubs you the wrong way?" Timeria offered, one of her tails twitching.

Zeal nodded. "Yeah, kinda. Do you know him?"

Timeria pauses. "I'm acquainted to him… wouldn't really call him a friend…"

Zeal nodded again. "Ah. What's he like?"

Timeria paused. "Err…."

She was saved from answering the question by another vaster. A light knocking was heard, oddly enough, not from the door, but the big gap in the wall Narc has unknowingly caused moments before.

A small yellow face peaked inside, large blue eyes showing anxiety. "Uh… hello?" She asked, meekly.

Narc instantly perked up. "Why, hello there, miss…" He paused, as she walked inside, revealing an effeminate, small bipedal body. Her body was fairly regular, with fur long enough around the waist to seem like it was a skirt of some sort around her ankles. Small cuffs of grey fur covered her sharp claws from sight, maintaining the cute image.

Of course, the most noticeable thing about her was the giant grey maw attacked to the back of her head, massive white shark-like teeth sticking noticeably out of it. Oddly enough, as the creature walked in, sakura blossoms seemed to flow around her, seemingly out of nowhere.

Narc's eyes paused on the giant mouth on her back for a second, but only hesitated slightly, before walking up to her, flames restrained back to give him a gentlemanly look.

"I am Narcissus, If I could inquire to your name…?"

Timeria rolled her eyes, and blinked as she noted another nearby female glancing incredulously at Narc. It was the pink-furred sheep creature…

\Timeria walked over to her. "Don't mind him. He does this kind of thing… always."

Renee blinked at Timeria. "Oh…y-yeah, I know… it's just that… err…" There was a small sigh. "Nevermind."

"Cheer up." Zeal said, walking over to the two females, the flaafy nodding in response.

The mawile glanced around, not taking much notice of the Quilava. "Is this… everyone that's here?"

Narc nodded. "Yes. Were you attacked by those weird Porana" The Quilava paused. "Porygons, were you, ma'am?"

The mawile paused. "No… but it is regarded by them…" The creature fiddled with part of her fur skirt. "Can I tell it to the leader, here?"

Narc brightened. "That's me, miss…" The Quilava paused, obviously expecting a name for the third time in a row.

The mawile paused. "Oh, uh, r-really? I was kinda expecting someone a bit more… human."

Narc scoffed. "Unlikely. They're too busy… doing human stuff I suppose. But I digress… what's your name?" He asked, bluntly, tired of being ignored.

"Oh…I'm…" The creature paused, and mumbled a bit.

Narc cocked his head to the side. "Nami? Cute name. You should speak up a little though."

The mawile paused. "No, actually it's Na…" The creature paused. "No, you're right, it's Nami… I was thinking of something else."

She paused again, and her back maw snapped together once, causing Narc to jump and wince slightly. "So… what do you have to say?"

Nami paused again. "I know where the main Porygon is going next… and his targets afterwards, where they are…"


	26. Process loading

**Irony.  
**

**–noun, plural -nies.**

**1.** **the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, "How nice!" when I said I had to work all weekend. ** **2.** **Literature. ****a.** **a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated.** **b.** **(esp. in contemporary writing) a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc., esp. as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme, or emotion.** **3.** ** Socratic irony. ** **4.** ** dramatic irony. ** **-----5.** _**an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.----**_ **6.** **the incongruity of this.** **7.** **an objectively sardonic style of speech or writing.** **8.** **an objectively or humorously sardonic utterance, disposition, quality, etc.**

...yeah, sorry 'bout that folks. Well, I've learned my lesson, never promise anything, 'else karma's going to kill you.

Oh well, it's here now.

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 16**

**-**

**--**

**-**

Nagimi looked around the room, honestly being timid for one of the few times in her non-life.

Her metallic feet/talons rapped against the floor with a loud ticking sound, and she felt increasingly irritated at their lack of carpet; although then again, that would've probably been even worse, her feet being constantly snagged on all the snarls a carpet would contain. She found it a little odd she was being irritated at the floor in the position she was in, but supposed it was her way of coping with anxiety. That and taking her favorite form; that of a pretty, young, Mawile. She had obtained the form several years ago, when she made friends with the original possessor of the body, who played on the cliffs of Dewford. Despite said friend being rather innocent, Nagimi had quickly noticed that the species' shape was rather appealing to most other species, and perfect for her purposes… except for the second jaw, of course.

At first, she used the form only for its usefulness, but lately she had been more attached to it than her true form. She felt it encapsulated her being better than any other shape could… a beautiful, innocent, wide-eyed maiden, with a massive disfiguring maw, like something out of Lovecraftian horror, extending from the back of her skull.

Still, she tried to stay positive. At least she wasn't in Fenrir…

Simply put, the ghostly city was in uproar. After having their satellite barriers removed, the citizens of Fenrir panicked, assuming the humans were coming as they spoke; despite their raw power, it was unlikely the city could withstand an actual assault from a large-scale human military (Provided Giratina, Omen, or Ryull didn't get involved, all three of which generally had enough power to destroy such a force with relative ease).

And, to top it off, Prometheius had thought it was a good idea to attack during this distraction. While his normal attacks were a serious matter, an assault during a period of weakening such as this was almost unbearable. The majority of Fenrir's firepower was also otherwise engaged, forcing Giratina to take …extreme measures.

Nagimi nodded to herself slightly, then blinked as she realized the Quilava was still talking to her.

"So, Nami, where are you from?" The creature asked conversationally with her.

Nagimi stared flatly at him. She had seen more than enough males to recognize when one lusted after her, even if she didn't notice his increased heart rate, overly extended pupils, deep breaths and; in the case of a fire type like him; increased fire size. Normally she wouldn't have minded such attention (indeed, that was what she encouraged with her various guises), but in this case, she just had too much on her mind.

"Somewhere." She said simply.

The Quilava- Narcissus apparently, odd name- didn't appear pleased with this, and frowned for half a second. Nagimi didn't particularly care, although she did suppose that if he was the leader, it would pay to stay on his good side.

"Ey, who 'ave we here?"

Nagimi paused as she heard a thickly accented (Not any particular accent, just –a- accent. Its tone was in a category all its own) voice speak, one that sounded incredibly familiar. She blinked in confusion as she looked up into the red orbs that were a Flygon's bulbous eyes.

"Na…na…na…" The Flygon paused, faltering as he glanced around.

"Nami." Nagimi finished for him, giving a small cute grin, with her paws crossed behind her back. The Flygon paused in confusion, than grinned.

"Right, right, Nami, how could I have forgotten…" the desert dragon chuckled to himself. "I think you'll want the humans; they're over there comparing Pokemon" The Flygon helpfully pointed to the next room, where indeed, behind the glass screen, there humans were showing off their Pokemon.

Nagimi cocked her head, blinking, noticing the somewhat rare Pokemon in the room with them; A Kingdra, who looked a twitch bored, a tense-looking Kabutops, and (less rare) a female Houndoom. Nagimi giggled as she recognized said Houndoom, and noticing it was very, very much bored.

"Probably won't do you very much though. We don't have a translator." The Flygon stared at the Mawile flatly. He was well aware she could use telekinesis to translate for them, but he hardly thought she would do so while in the body of a creature not known to do so.

Nagimi paused gravely. "That's a bit of a problem…"

The dragon shrugged. "Apparently they had a psychic type, but she went AWOL recently. No clue where she is."

'Nami' sighed. "No clue at all? Don't they have those little mechanical translators? Isn't this a gym or something?"

The desert dragon shrugged again. "Dunno. Didn't bother to look around."

Nagimi sighed slightly. That would be a problem… but she supposed she'd just have to make due without keeping a disguise.

- - -

I paused, then blinked at my new surroundings. I was apparently in a field of some sort, with various long grasses and small snatches of flowers scattered about, like blue and yellow flames erupting from a canvas.

My mind had only split seconds to register, before it was consumed with a massive, skull-splitting pain. I heard myself whimper slightly as I fell backward onto my back, clutching my throbbing head.

A couple seconds later, I felt someone kneel fairly close to me.

"Err… Kadabra? Are you okay?" I heard a tentative voice say. My headache had dulled slightly, so I opened an eye to stare up into the face of the human scientist, who still seemed a bit skittish. Well, who wouldn't be, after that encounter with the Gengar?

The glaceon from before was draped around his shoulders, like some sort of fashion accessory. It looked at me, curiously but incredibly shy.

I took a tender step up, wincing slightly at the effort, then nodded slightly once I was back onto my feet.

"Well enough." I responded physically. I didn't trust my mind with telepathy yet.

The glaceon paused, then whispered my response into the human's ear. I quirked an eyebrow, noticing the black collar around the eon's neck, and an odd metallic square on it; evidently, he had been supplied for a translator for some purpose. That seemed to confirm my suspicions that this scientist was closer to the eon than his other Pokemon- none of the others seemed to be equipped with anything of the sort.

"That's good, then…" The human continued awkwardly, brushing some black hair away from his eyes. "Say… you wouldn't know where we are, would you?"

I paused, then shook my head. I had been attempting to teleport the three of us to a nearby street, but somehow, my destination was changed. That probably also explained why my head hurt so much; Psychic "errors" like that tended to really screw your mind.

I paused, then looked around. The glade seemed generic enough, but looking around, I could see a bit of a forest beginning, and, in the distance, the shadows of civilization.

"I think we're still near Mauville." I added. "Maybe a day's walk away. I'm not well enough to teleport again."

That was the truth; at the moment, thinking too much made my head hurt. I briefly wondered if this was what the Quilava felt like all the time, but shrugged it off.

The scientist bit his lip. "Erm… no offense, but, uh, can you walk for a day?"

I paused, taking in this question, then hung my head in reply. Kadabra talons were not suited for walking for any length of time; we learned to teleport almost directly after birth. My leg muscles were rather pitiful, obviously not strong enough for me to walk any distance with them.

The scientist nodded, still biting his lip. "Me either."

I blinked. Well, he did look pretty scrawny.

"So…I suppose we're stuck here, until you recover." The scientist continued. I paused for only a brief second, then nodded; I looked around. "Perhaps we should gather some wood for a fire. I doubt my telekinesis will return soon."

I waited a second for the Glaceon to translate, then began walking towards the forested area of the glade. A moment later, the scientist and his companion followed.

-

A few hours later, we had collected a fair amount of dry wood into a pile, with stones placed around to help contain the flame. The scientist was attempting to light the sticks by magnifying the sunlight through the lenses of a pair of glasses he had on him; his reading glasses, he explained.

I shivered a little. The fire was all welcome- in Mauville, the temperature was bearable, but in this glade, the wind whipped around brutally. Kadabra fur wasn't the warmest in existence.

I glanced over my shoulder; obviously, the glaceon wasn't having the same problem. The glaceon had vacated the spot around his master's neck to avoid the fire, instead sitting a little away from me, grooming and occasionally throwing nervous glances in my direction. I could assume my presence wasn't comforting to him.

"What's your name?" I asked. At this point, I could have talked telepathically if I wanted, but I preferred not to risk the exhaustion. My head still ached a bit.

He looked startled and paused in mid-groom, nervously giggling. "Err…i-it's Mateo."

I paused, and nodded a bit. "I am Tiris."

He nodded, once again awkwardly. "Err, n-nice to m-meet you."

"Hmm…" I cocked my head at him, staring at him inquisitively. Something seemed… off about him, now that I had a good look. Something… familiar. But I was sure I hadn't heard his name before… odd…

He shifted anxiously. "E-eerr… C-can I h-help you?" He asked, semi-jokingly.

"Hmm…" I cocked my head again. "I seem to recall you from somewhere, but I can't place where…"

The glaceon shifted, then shook his head. "I d-don't t-think that's possible… I've b-been with Even for most of my life, s-so I don't really get out much…" The ice type flushed a bit. "A-and I tend to a-avoid females when p-possible…"

I blinked, the psychiatrist part of me intrigued. "Really? Why?"

The glaceon blushed a bit, tail twitching. "W-well, t-they just scare m-me a lot…N-not really sure w-why, I just c-can't be near them without panicking a bit…"

I dearly wished I had my notepad with me. "Ah, I see. Would you say that it's a phobia, then? Gynophobia?"

The eon, once again, looked awkward. "Uh…I g-guess… I wouldn't really k-know…"

"Well, what's your primary emotion when a female comes near you?"

"Fear."

"Other than fear…?"

"I w-wouldn't k-know… can't really t-think of anything other t-than fear…"

I paused, once again wishing for a notepad. This little quadruped was a very interesting case. "Do any males make you feel similarly?"

The glaceon paused.

"N-no… m-males are fine. It's f-females I'm scared of… I t-think I mentioned that a couple t-times already…"

I nodded slightly. "What about attraction, then? Are you still attracted to some females, despite being afraid of them?"

The glaceon paused. "N-no… never. P-probably because I'm t-too scared t-to think of anything else… I-I'm sure I've m-mentioned this before…"

There was a hint of irritation in his voice. I ignored it.

"I see. Well, what about males, then? Do you ever feel attraction to other males?"

The glaceon flushed a bit. "I h-haven't f-felt attraction to anyone…"

I shrugged slightly. "Alright, then. We-"

"Yes! I did it!"

---

I was interrupted by a cry of victory over by the fire, where a small flame lay in the makeshift firepit we had made, smoldering away. The glaceon, grateful for having a reason to get out of our conversation, quickly made his way back to the human and slinked around his shoulders again. I frowned a bit; diagnosing the fellow was something fun I could use to distract myself from my headache.

Even so, I couldn't shake the thought that I had seen him before. Even so, I was sure I would recall a glaceon I'd seen before –they weren't exactly a common species in tropical Hoenn.

Even so, I shrugged it off, instead directing my attention to the shadows of Mauville buildings in the distance. And then- I paused, and frowned. There was a larger shadow appearing in the center of the shadows, something massive and circular… and red. I caught sight of the bright pigment against the blue of the sky, blotting out the rest of the city.

My jaw dropped as the city in the distance was covered in a blood-red shroud.

* * *

Ven blinked as he felt a sharp paw jab his side. He grumbled a bit.

"Narc, just leave me alone before I scratch your eyes out…" He muttered, before returning to his sleep. He was promptly startled as he was barreled into, send sprawling a fair distance away.

Woken up, Ven snarled, getting up onto his feet, ivory fur quivering. "What the hell was that… for…" The eevee muttered as he saw who woke him up.

The houndoom Alpha snorted slightly at him. "The barriers are down."

Ven blinked, an ear quirked. "What do you mean?"

The houndoom jerked his head. "Look for yourself."

Ven blinked. In a fairly small strip, there was a massive amount of Pokemon- both large and small. He noticed, with some surprise, that none were the same species, despite the massive variety. Dominating the entire group was a dour-looking Tyranitar, looking around with hawklike eyes. A Rhynperior was second, frantically answering the questions of the younger Pokemon congregated around him; he seemed to be the member most in charge, as the Tyranitar secluded itself. A Gyarados, despite dwarfing the both of them in pure size, was quietly curled up into a corner.

Ven's ear twitched. "But… we're in a digital space. Why would the barriers be down?"

The Alpha's shoulders shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe it's like the Rockets do, let us mingle for a little bit once each year to keep us happy. How should I know?"

Ven blinked. "Why are we all in a straight line, then? It's a big field…"

The Houndoom snorted, and tapped his arrowhead tail to his side, where it simply stopped, like it hit a wall. "It's a computer system, Eevee. There's nothing coded past this strip, so we can't move past. It's just a picture.

Ven nodded in slightly understanding, then pointed his tail at a figure at the other end of the strip. "Then… what's he doing?"

The Alpha snorted. "Being stupid? I don't know, some Pokemon just want something to hit, even if it's a wall.

I blinked, then squinted at the creature. "Hey… I think I know that one."

The Houndoom rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" But quickly followed the albino anyway as he wove through most of the crowd, towards the small figure attempting to beat up the side of the digital area.

"Damn…you…damn, damn, damn!" The Raichu growled as he continued to hit the digital wall. "Why won't you break!?" He growled, fists sparking with electricity.

Ven blinked. "Ray… it's a virtual wall, it can't break…"

Ray growled at him. "Then I'll make it! There's no way in hell I'm being locked up AGAIN! I refuse to be a prisoner!". The rodent continued to punch at the invisible barrier, still doing no visible damage.

Ven growled gently. He knew how the raichu felt, and agreed, though he wasn't about to start punching walls.

The Houndoom Alpha chuckled gently at the two of them. "Don't waste your strength… I don't think we'll be in here much longer."

Ven glanced at him curiously. "Yeah? Why do you say that?"

The Houndoom yawned, and casually pointed his tail towards one end of the line; there, a growing blue void was appearing, absorbing the background into it's mass. Small hints of digits written in standard Times New Roman font could be seen licking at the edges, before being deleted.

"That's why."


	27. Save As

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 17**

**-**

_A/N- Sorry about the lack of action still, guys. I'm as annoyed as you are; but the good news, we'll finally get more action next chapter._

**--**

**-**

Ven opened his eyes slowly, blinking at the red and brown he saw with them. He blinked a couple times before realizing the agony he was in, and shut them again firmly.

"Arrooough…" He groaned, his nerve endings feeling like they were on fire. He felt like he was just beat with a sack of rocks, after tiring himself out to the point of exhaustion. He didn't feel injured, but bruised and beaten at the very least. At the very least, he could feel the warm, tender breeze rustle through his fur, and he smiled at that. If he stood still, it didn't feel as bad, so he should just-

"ARGHAHAGA!" The screamed as he felt himself being picked up roughly by the back of the neck, relighting his bruises once again. He wailed in protest and kicked out with a back leg. He heard a voice scowl and growl in response.

"Ven! Stop squirming!" He heard a voice whisper sharply, different than the one that had growled. This one seemed familiar, but he didn't want to open his eyelids to check; he was in enough pain as it was.

"Why'd we bring him anyway?" He heard another, more unknown voice say. He could tell it was from the one that had picked him up, and squirmed again. He heard a growl of irritation, and was dropped back on his back, causing him to yelp again.

He whimpered a little, despite a voice in the back of his head telling him not to do so, and slowly opened his eyelids. At first, all he saw was a mass of blurs, but slowly and surely, two silhouettes came into view.

"Ray? That houndoom?" He said, quizzically. He was still on his back (from the position he had been dropped in), and saw them upside down, but they couldn't be mistaken.

Ray nodded, the houndoom snorted. "That houndoom? Is that all you can call me?"

Ven blinked, and shrugged. "You never told me your name."

The houndoom paused for a second. "Pack leaders don't have names. We're called 'Alpha' by our subordinates, and other pack leaders just call us by the name of our pack. Which makes me Alpha Aries."

Ven snorted a little. "You weren't born an alpha."

Alpha Aries shrugged. "We're given names by the current Alpha, and change them whenever new ones come to power. Actually, that's the first responsibility of a new alpha- if the old one is still alive after being usurped, giving them a new name."

The raichu sighed, then tapped his foot. "Look, we can talk about this later. For now, move!" sparks flew from his cheeks as he spoke, punctuating his sentence.

Ven blinked, righted himself, then blinked again. "Why? What happened, I can't remember…"

Aries shrugged. "Not entirely sure… we got eaten by that big hole in the data, do you remember that?"

The Houndoom waited for Ven to nod, then continued. "I think we were dropped out of the system. Can't say for sure, but I think we're still in Mauville…"

He glanced around.

"Doesn't exactly look Mauve these days, though."

Ven paused for a second, then looked around again. At once, he noticed the reddish tint everything had for some odd reason; even his own fur looked to be a light shade of red, which was unfortunate, as the shade of red was more pink than anything.

The Houndoom shrugged. "For some reason, everything's red in the city. Even the sky. No clue why, but that's the least of our problems."

The Raichu nodded. "There's these weird Porygon-like things everywhere. Same type that captured us, but they're swarming. I haven't seen any humans nearby, but I did catch glimpses of the other Pokemon we were caught with. They aren't capturing them anymore; they just kill them now."

Ven paused again, processing this information. "So… why are we alive, then?"

Ray paused. "We ran, and well, so that helped. But honestly, we had help…"

Ven quirked an eyebrow. "From who?"

Aries smirked. "From him, of course." He tilted his head, as a Porygon2 rounded the corner, metallic hide gleaming in the redness of the city. Like him, it had been painted a pinkish color by the red filter, so he supposed it must have been white originally.

Ven's fur bristled, but he relaxed when it became apparent the Porygon was who the Houndoom was referring to. "So…who are you?" He paused, suspiciously at the machine. He hadn't seen the creatures that had caught him originally, so he didn't have anything for reference, but he still thought it looked pretty normal. Except that it had an odd… presence, about it, that he couldn't put his paw on.

The machine hovered in place for a moment. "You may call me Sigma."

Ven paused for a second, cocking his head at the creature. He'd seen Porygon, and he was sure their eyes didn't _glow_ normally… but he couldn't tell which color due to the tint of the air, and shrugged it off as nothing. "Okay then Sigma… what do we do?"

The Porygon paused. "I will lead you to a shelter. I can feed 'Z false info about the place to keep you safe, so follow me. Stay near me; as long as I feed Z information about my visuals that says you aren't here, you won't be bothered by any of the others. They all share a single mind in everything except problem solving; if I can trick them into thinking you aren't here, nobody will question it."

Ven paused, and nodded. "Okay… but why are you doing this? Wouldn't that mean you share a mind with …err, Z… also? Also, who is Z?"

Sigma paused again, floating in mid air, before responding cryptically. "Er, me and Z do have some history together. Never really got along with him, but this was the last straw. I can still screw around with him though, and I know a guy that knows you, so…"

Ven paused. "Who do you know that knows me? And who's Z again?"

The Porygon2 floated for a second more. "One of your siblings, I believe. No, I can't remember who, so don't ask. And two, Z is the… master program, I suppose is the best term. He's a Porygon Z, an enhanced version of Porygon2 intended to serve as the processing unit of military computers. He was enhanced by the Hoenn military with strategies to neutralize and take over, with minimum loss of life, everything on the planet. Apparently at some point, it gained an agenda of its own. But right now, it's incomplete; the program was composed of four hyperdisks."

Ven cocked an ear. "I… see…" he muttered unsurely.

Sigma paused for a second before continuing. "The first disk contained his personality, and most of his general functions. The second disk contained most of his combat data, including information on all human armies and a detailed breakdown on every Pokemon known to humans; That's why he released you from the digital world, by the way. You were kept for database reference, which was unnecessary when he assimilated the second disk. I am unsure of the contents of the third and fourth disks, which he has yet to obtain."

The albino Eevee nodded again, dismayed. He listened to it and heard it, but he wasn't entirely sure he really got what the digital Pokemon was saying.

Ray nodded his head. "That's pretty much what he told us too."

After finishing, Sigma looked at the somewhat confused (and in the case of Aries, bored) faces, then nodded. "Very well then. Follow me; don't stray too far, or you'll be detected."

He floated off when he finished that sentence, and was pleasantly surprised to find them nearly hugging his sides.

- - -

The streets were dead.

The once bustling main arteries of Mauville had fallen, to be replaced with eerily quiet alleyways. Most buildings were still in good condition, though died red by the miraculous color of the dome that had been erected around the city. Porygon-like creatures guarded everywhere, with a mathematic and calculated route designed to detect any living organism that tried to creep away under their watch. The red coloration actually aided them; a uniform tint on the air allowed them to have a perfect representation of their surroundings, while before they had to change the settings of their optics in regard to the color of light at the time. As an added bonus, the uniform red made it difficult for most other organisms to notice them, white phantoms perfectly blending in with the light.

This, of course, meant absolutely nothing as a jewelry store promptly exploded, incinerating three Porygon standing outside it, and another patrolling by the road at the moment.

For the moment, all was silent but the burning timbers and billowing smoke. Then, abruptly, a rocket-like figure jumped out of the burning wreckage; a humanoid figure with powerful legs. It did an acrobatic twirl and flourish in the air, before using a nearby building wall to neatly guide itself to the ground.

The figure paused, crossing it's arms for a second… then abruptly buckled. "That was SO cool!" It exclaimed in a loud, obviously feminine voice.

There was a grunt in response, and slight pause as a creature crawled from the wreckage. It was obviously burning due to the fire, but it didn't seem to notice; despite the ears and most of the fur having been burned, it was recognizable as a eon.

"Excuse me." It said politely, before it turned around, apparently standing on it's head.

Soleil quirked an eyebrow. "What are you doi-"

She winced as she heard a loud crack. There was a pause as the burning creature's body slumped downward, head bent at an odd angle. It was obvious the spine was severed.

She paused, tapping a foot slightly. A couple seconds later, the fire simply blew out, leaving the rest of the mangled corpse in view- however, miraculously, the body seemed to rebuild itself. The burnt ears simply grew out of the skull again, as even the burnt and scarred fur quickly regrew into a neat, and ordered black pelt, decorated with several yellow rings. Finally, a couple seconds passed as the neck jerked at an odd angle, with an equally loud crunch. The umbreon's muscles spasmed for a couple seconds, before they relaxed again. There was another pause, as the umbreon quickly got up to his feet, grooming his fur slightly like nothing ever happened.

"Hi." He said.

Soleil shook her head. "You're pretty sick, Jet."

"You're the one who blew up the store."

Soleil crossed her arms. "Did not. I had no idea a single Hyperbeam would do that to one of those…things. Plus, you used a Shadowball too. I think the combination wasn't a good one."

The Umbreon smirked. "Think the owner will charge us for the cost?"

The Lucario looked at him cryptically. "The Drapion was hit by that weird ray one used a while ago. Not sure if it killed him or whatever, looked more like a pokeball beam than anything. The Scorupi abandoned ship. It's their own fault."

"How do you figure that?" The Umbreon said idly, with a slight chuckle to himself.

Soleil shrugged. "Dunno."

Jet paused, then glanced around. "I think reinforcements can come. That's bad… for you. They can't do anything to me that the fire didn't already, and you see how well that worked out."

Soleil bit her lip. "Hm. Best ambush them, then." The Lucario said, pressing her back against the wall of a nearby house.

Jet simply stared at her. "…Honestly, they're computers. How do you expect to-"

He stopped as the Lucario put a finger to her lips, and jerked her head at the corner. Jet rolled his eyes, and hid behind the wall along with her. He sat boredly, still grooming his fairly neat fur.

There was a pause as Soleil charged up an Aura Sphere, storing the excess energy in the spikes on her palms. The stood ready to react at the smallest movement, her senses incredibly increased during her mediation. She heard the slight distruption of the earth by a floating entity, and mentally prepared herself. Then, when she had judged the distance, she jumped out from behind the wall, quickly realizing and releasing the aura sphere at the creature that had approached.

The Porygon simply floated impassively to the side, like it had expected such a maneuver. The Eevee, Raichu, and Houndoom following it, however, weren't so prepared and hastily ducked or jumped to the side to avoid the attack, cursing loudly.

the bounty hunter's ear twitched, mentally noting how it was odd the small white ball of fluff seemed to had the biggest vocabulary in the way of curse words out of… probably all five of them, actually. The Porygon probably had a dictionary of sorts, but half the curses the small creature was spouting sounded made up.

"Language." The Lucario said, dropping her guard. They didn't seem threatening; or at least not before she chucked a ball of combustible energy at them.

The Houndoom seemed puzzled. "I thought Aura Sphere couldn't miss…" He muttered.

Soleil paused. "Oh right, it can't… hmm…" she paused a second, holding a palm up, as a blue sphere curved out of nowhere, returning to the spike in her hand. She grinned as the energy melded back into her. "That feels good. Well, back to business; who the hell are you guys?" She asked, one of her ears quirked inquisitively.

Jet rolled his eyes from behind the wall.

The foul-mouthed albino creature bristled a little bit. "I could ask you the same thing, but could you get out of our way? We're kinda in a hurry, and I'm not in a good mood right now."

"That much is apparent." Muttered Jet, walking out from behind the wall that he was hiding behind. "Does it really matter who YOU are? Who the hell is THAT?" He said, still in a bored tone, pointing at the white Porygon.

"You may call me Sigma. I'm attempting to destroy the program that is controlling this place." The porygon retorted. Jet raised an eyebrow; Soleil blinked.

"Why does that Porygon sound smug?"

He paused as all of the others began to stare at her.

"…What? It's just weird, that's all." She said, shrugging.

Sigma nodded. "It does not matter. I am leading these three to a secure location; you may join us, if you wish. You shan't be attacked by any of the other programs while you are within my sight index."

Soleil shrugged, and followed as the quartet walked past, albeit hanging back about a foot. Jet didn't move, and simply stood in place, grooming, for a couple minutes. After a little while, he shrugged, and followed the others, joining Soleil.

The group of six walked for a little bit, before coming to a large building. Soleil blinked; it seemed to be made in the same style as a Pokemon Gym; she had heard of them before. Gyms were facilities where trainers trained against eachother, generally focusing on the apsects of a certain type. Aspiring trainers would come from all around to challenge the leader of the training gym, dubbed the Leader, for recognition and badges to use for application to the year-end Pokemon tournament at Ever Grand isle.

Sigma nodded. "This is the place." It said in a pseudo-monotone. Oddly enough, it somehow resembled a computer, yet kept emotion and inflections in its voice.

Soleil opened the door cautiously, and looked around, expecting a trap. She blinked at the gaping space before her; there was a massive pool, Olympic sized at very least, and rooms covered by glass walls over to the side, but it all seemed empty.

She crossed her arms. "Nobody's here."

Sigma nodded. "There were others. They left recently, however."

Jet looked around suspiciously. "Why is there a hole in the wall?" He asked, as he pointed towards a wall in one of the rooms. Sigma somehow preformed a shrug, despite lacking limbs.

"It's a safe area, so it hardly matters."

Jet nodded, then proceeded to stare at the water suspiciously. Soleil looked at him inquisitively for a moment, then shrugged, looking around. The Raichu had his arms crossed, looking around.

"I was here before…" He muttered. "Some friends they are, taking off without me. Even that Pikachu. They didn't even attempt to help me."

The white Eevee paused. "This is where they came, Ray? Right, I kinda recall something about a gym being mentioned… but where are they now, then?"

Ray shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. I'm better off on my own, anyway."

There was a brief pause, then a small snarl. Everyone looked towards the source of the sound, that was apparently the Houndoom. "We'll have none of that." He growled out. "We're either a pack, or we're in chaos. There's no room for arrogance or selfishness here. You're quite obviously not strong enough to survive here, you were captured. Nor am I, and I somehow doubt puffball here would last long on his own."

The white Eevee huffed.

The Houndoom nodded at him again. "If we're to survive, we must stick as a pack, at least until we're in safe territory." He paused, then looked towards Soleil and Jet. "You two. Can we depend on you."

Soleil smiled. "Sure, I'm fine with that. Teamwork."

Jet shrugged, and didn't respond. Ven blinked at him, quirking an eyebrow.

"You remind me of someone… Can't remember who…" the small creature muttered under his breath.

The Houndoom grunted, then turned to Sigma. "And what about you? Can we count on you, or will we have to fend for ourselves?"

Sigma paused. "I have my agenda. However, I guaranty this area will be safe from invasion."

The Houndoom grunted. "But what about food? Water? How long will be hiding out here?"

Sigma paused. "It is a gym. It is well equipped to feed a large number of Pokemon regularly. I highly doubt you will run out of water…" The digital entity floated towards the pools, pointedly. "The water is salt, not chlorinated. There are massive reservoirs open under the basement full of fresh water."

The Houndoom nodded. "Fine, then. If all of what you say is true, we should be fine. Unless, of course, you fail in keeping the… program, is it? Z? From noticing us."

The porygon's eyes narrowed with surprising flair. "I will not fail.", and with that, disappeared into thin air.

Ray looked around grumpily. "I still can't believe they left us behind."

Ven shrugged. "It happens."

Ray turned, snarling slightly, at Ven. "And what would you know about alone? You've been raised by humans all your life. You only had to live with the Rockets for what, four months maybe? Try five YEARS. And yet you complain?"

Ven blinked, looking a little taken back. "No need to be so spiteful…"

Jet snicked a little bit. Ven looked at him oddly; the Umbreon continued snickering.

Ven paused again. "Wait… I think I know who you remind me of. Your face… kinda looks a bit like Shira's. One of my sister's… though more masculine, obviously. Odd coincidence."

Jet stopped snickering, his face falling. "Right. Coincidence. Of course." He said, dully.

Soleil raised an eyebrow.


	28. Error 404 Page not Found

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 18**

**-**

**--**

**-**

The quiet of the halls was absolute.

The dark space that may have once been an office space was absolutely immobile and lifeless. The lights were off, and had been off for a long, long, while, their need far expired. No living creature, save perhaps a couple small insects, had disturbed the modern resting place for a long, long time, as evidenced by the decomposing papers and disastrous condition of the place.

Military Project X-4 hovered casually through these abandoned hallways.

One who saw him, wouldn't think he was a Porygon Z. His physical body was a large, spherical-shaped object with several revolving satellites. This didn't bother him, of course- it had already been proven by that Rotom that the body was resilient enough to even stop Ryull in his tracks.

If the computer could show emotion, it would have smirked. Everything was working perfectly.

He floated into a specific room. In here, it was obviously more comfortable, with the chairs apparently having been made from leather at some point. But Z' wasn't interested in the chairs, but in the large, mahogany deck that lay in the center of the room. Unlike most of the building, the desk showed no signs of wear and tear, the superior wood being a testament to that.

Z knew why this building was dead. He knew why nobody ever came here, or ever found it hidden in the woods near Fallabar. Long ago, it had been a relatively normal documenting agency, with moderate success. It wasn't notable in any meaning of the term- it was neither exceptional, nor horrible. The profits it made were average, almost frighteningly so.

It came as a surprise to everybody, of course, when it became known that the regular little drafting firm was nothing but a smokescreen for something much more exciting entirely- a program developments lab for the Hoenn military. Specifically, the more illegal portion of it; Spyware, viruses, things of the sort. The real company was never very reputable; it had known ties to Team Rocket and Galaxy. Though the army overlooked this (neither crime syndicate was known for its basis in Hoenn, who at the time, were terrorized mainly by Aqua and Magma), it stared becoming dangerous when a mole for the Hoenn government discovered several high-up members selling military secrets to the criminal organizations.

And so, the office building was purged.

The Hoenn Federal Board had no way to know who was a simple worker for the Smokescreen business, and who was involved in the trading of secrets. So instead of attempting to discriminate between them, they were all taken for military questioning. Some were released when it had been proven without a shadow of a doubt they knew the office's real purpose, with a gag order in place to prevent them from speaking about the incident to any others. Other members, who perhaps had more knowledge about sensitive details, were either deported abroad or were never heard from again.

The Hoenn military had a certain global reputation about it- They were serious about everything. Indeed, if they were not, they would have never been able to invent X-4 in the first place; the most expensive and expansive military computer in the history of their planet.

X-4 found what he was looking for in a matter of seconds utilizing an inner x-ray system, and quickly shoved one of his circling satellites into the wooden desk. The expensive material splintered, as he used a magnetic pulse to bring up the treasure within- a hyperdisk. Hyperdisks were a fairly new technology, created by attaching a miniature modem to a regular compact disk. It allowed them to store incredibly massive programs, and download them onto necessary systems in seconds, using their own download functions instead of the computer's.

Once again, if he had a face, he'd smirk, as he synched his advanced systems to the disk and prepared to download.

For the first time in his relatively short lifespan, he was surprised by the result. The only thing taking up space in the Hyperdisk was a single Video file. After running a detailed virus scan of the program, he allowed it to play.

His body still showed no emotion, but the objects around him were instantly blown apart by the psychic backlash.

A Gengar stared back at him, smirking, through the video window. "Heya there. If you're watching this, you just got Punk'd". The Gengar said cheerily. X-4 still did not show it, but his personality chip was near overloading with anger. Ryull, it seems, had gotten here before he did.

"Let me give you the skinny." The ghost said, smirking. "You want this disk, I know that. And I could destroy it… but that would just leave you without a function, wouldn't it? You'd probably go rogue… destroy everything and whatnot. If nothing else, you could cause irreparable damage to the technologies of this country… personally, I'd rather that didn't happen. So, I've sent you this location… here, I'm keeping the third disk. I'll be waiting for you here, so we can settle this once and for all. Come if you want the disk… which I know you do. Nyaa!" The gengar ended the message by pulling his lower eyelid downward and sticking out his tongue in a childish gesture.

There was a moment of processing, as X-4 disappeared from that building.

- - -

"…_Ryull? What is this?" A blinking Nagimi asked, holding a strange object in her telepathic grip. Her wide green eyes shone with curiosity. _

_The Elder Ghost simply chuckled. "Something that's going to help our little issue with X-4, believe me. Listen, here's what I need you to do… Go to Cyanville with this disk, it's that little Burgh next to Mauville. Seek out the Stadium there, it's one of the widest buildings there. You should find a few other Fenrir members there, they should help you out. Cyanville might have a teleblock shroud up, the information to create one is in the second Hyperdisk- Hoenn Military teleblock shrouds are always color-coded Red. Luckily, while they prevent telekinetic teleportation, they do not function as a ghost barrier and thus you should be able to get in without trouble."_

_Nagimi nodded slightly. "Okay Ryull... I suppose I understand. Err, what do I actually do this this, then? Give it to one of the Fenrir members there?"_

_Ryull shook his head. "No, no, I need you to ferry it with me. See, when you get to the Stadium, you need to tell them…_

"…I know where the program is heading next." Nami said shyly, tugging slightly at the tight collar placed around her neck. Evidently, it felt odd having the black leather constrict her throat, but Pokemon Translating machines were still newish technology and the old model was the only thing Zack had in the Stadium ready.

The three humans stared at her with differing expressions. Zack was smirking triumphantly, clenching his palms as if he couldn't wait to do something. Sean was more reserved, watching her skeptically, as if he were trying to see that she were lying. Sasha bit her lip, trying to look worried, though her eyes had a knowing glint in them. Nami tended to avoid her glance, but still locked eyes with her once or twice, exchanging knowing glances.

Hiromi chuckled to herself, while Ocean blinked in surprised, cheeks sparking. Zeke yawned good naturedly, still attempting to rouse himself for the inevitable trek outwards; none of them seemed particularly surprised by the revelations of the Mawile. The other Pokemon were slightly more worried; Renee kept glancing downward nervously, Timeria just blinked with a feeling of foreboding in her stomach, and Zeal crossed his arms, examining Nami like she were an intruder. Timeria had the oddest feeling, however, that that wasn't the only reason he was examining the Mawile, which was further emphasized by the Quilava's response- Narc obviously hadn't been listening to a single word, instead opting to stare intently at the shape of the newcomer.

The two newest members of the Pokemon population there, Kingdra and Kabutops both seemed disinterested, and probably were. Being Gym Pokemon, they had no personal feelings towards most things unless they were there at the time, and simply did what their trainer told them to under most circumstances.

"So?" Said Sean levelly. "Where is he going next, then? And when?"

Nami paused for a second, evidently flustered. "…a bunker. A military bunker in Dewford… it was operational until recently, when they vacated it. They're building a new one soon." She muttered. "And he'll be there… in six hours, give or take about thirty minutes."

Sean nodded. "And how do you know this?"

Nami paused, and bit her lip. "I was the Pokemon of a scientist who worked on X-4 for a while. He's programmed to search out other parts of his program. He's two fourths complete now… the third fourth is found in that bunker. A… friend laid some clues so that he'll find out where it's kept in that amount of time…" She said uncertainly.

Sean raised an eyebrow. "And… who is this 'friend'?"

Sasha clicked her tongue impatiently. "Does it matter? We know where ol' cyberbritches will attack next, that's the only part that's important. And, as it so happens, I have a way to get us there…"

She glanced meaningfully at Zeke who blinked, nodded and seemed to touch the silver manacle around his neck habitually. The sand dragon gave a nervous chuckle as the attentions of all the others seemed to be attracted to him at the moment, and he blinked his red-colored eyes in slight embarrassment.

"It'll be here soon enough." Sasha said, nodding. "So…how do we take it down when it shows up, then?"

Sean paused. "If it doesn't know we're there, we'll have the element of surprise on our hands, I think we'll be able to overpower it. Is it the main core that's showing up? Why doesn't it send one of its computerized lackies?"

Nami paused. "Only the core can assimilate the Hyperdisk data, the extensions on the other Porygon can't use the passcodes needed to open the file.

The human paused for a second, then nodded. "That's… fine, I guess. So, we'll all just do a massive joint attack on it, then? That's our plan?"

Zack chuckled, the pirate smirking and clasping Sean on the shoulder. "Is there any better plan? It's technology, all you need to do is hit it until it breaks. It isn't like us flesh-and-blood beings, it doesn't have any 'drive' if you get me." He said, smirking.

Narc yawned. "This is all very interesting. Not. I'm all for defeating this whatever-you-call-it, but really, I don't care about the specifics. All I know is that its lackies hurt females, and thus, I can't forgive it. Not to mention it tried to kill me to-URK!" The indigo-backed creature blanched, green eyes bulging as it was grabbed from the back.

"Kitty!" Yelled a purple creature with strong arms, as it hugged the Quilava close to it, rubbing its head against it affectionately. Narc blinked in surprise, and attempted to wriggle away, only to find the creature had an incredibly stable grip and… drooled. He paled a bit.

Zeke's wings perked up. "Baou!" He said joyfully, smirking. "You're here, then?"

Baou didn't look at his partner, instead still cuddling with Narc. "Kitty…" He cooed softly. Zeke chuckled, wings flapping slightly.

Sasha nodded. "Here's our way out. Everybody touch the Sableye."

Baou paused, momentarily appearing shocked. "Wai-" He managed to get out, before the relatively solid ghost was covered with a crowd of ligaments.

---

Narc yawned. Now, this was boring. He was guarding something… weird. It looked like a circular disk in a clear casing with some weird sort of device attached to it. He wondered what it was for a second, then shrugged, not really caring.

He wasn't sure what possessed the humans to give him this job. What about him screamed 'Guard Duty'? Didn't he already prove his lack of attention span before? He doubted it would be hard to steal the damned thing. He didn't care about it, after all. What was it that they said? They couldn't risk him engaging the enemy too soon?

He shrugged. Usually it was the Kadabra who said stuff like that; he wasn't sure that he liked someone else taking up the duty.

He glanced around. He was in a rectangular room, covered in metal plates, without even a carpet or anything. He assumed it was expected the only ones who came in here wouldn't care about the cold floors. Truthfully, he didn't- his fire made the floor heat up quickly anyway- but it was still annoying when his claws rapped and got caught on the nooks and cracks of the metal plating. The area was grey, grey, and featureless. Or, if it had features, they were grey.

The only other colors were brown, and that was the table behind him with the disk on it. It wasn't anything special, just a cheap wooded-topped desk with cheap aluminum legs and reinforcements. There were small pockets of sand here and there, tracked in by people over the years moving from the above beach to the metal area. Apparently they didn't clean the floors too often.

He yawned again, trying to keep his eyelids open. He knew he had to fight, but what would be the signal? Surely someone in front of him would tell him when he had to get ready to fi-

He gasped out in surprise and pain as he was tossed aside at breakneck speed, hitting the metal wall with a sickening thump. He glanced upward, fairly dizzy, mentally noting his luck in that he hadn't hit his head, and hopefully, no ribs we broke.

He gasped as he saw a stone-like creature, with floating satellite miniature-structures around it. He growled, and flared up his back flame to about twice its normal height, releasing it in a massive stream at the opponent.

This apparently took them by surprise, as the machine was thrown about a foot back by the surprising strength and size of the flames, dropping the Hyperdisk in the process. It got up silently as Narc snarled at it. One satellite revolved around the creature, and span near him. He blinked as it glowed blue.

He hastily dodged a massive torrent of water spraying from the small stone, and panted, narrowly avoiding a blast of rocks from the next satellite. He blinked as the main body slammed itself into the ground, creating massive tremors in the ground.

Narc smirked, as he picked up speed, attempting to avoid the shaking of the earth, until he disappeared, his paws no longer touching ground at all. He disappeared in mid air, reappearing behind the creature, striking at it violently. The hunk of stone floated off to the side, unconcerned, as another satellite sped forward, slamming into Narc's gut.

The Quilava blanched and choked for a second, as another satellite came near, once again releasing a torrent of water, that this time hit its mark. Narc's eyes widen as he was hit by the wave of water, and launched to the side, back flames out.

Apparently satisfied, the crystalline structure turned its attention back to the disk…

And was promptly sent slamming through the wall above the disk, creating a massive dent in the metal. Narc sat, panting, paws glowing, where the creature was a moment ago.

Narc allowed himself a slight smirk as his paws stopped glowing. "Strength." He said, panting for air. "I don't usually have an opening to use it, but… well, you saw."

The crystalline structure removed itself from the metal wall. "Inconceivable." It said in a near-monotone. "No regular Quilava could survive those blows." It said simply. It didn't seem surprised, just as if it were stating a simple fact. Narc's eyebrow raised. "I'm no ordinary Quilava." He said simply.

The crystalline structure didn't respond physically. "Indeed." It said, in the same voice as before. "Documenting data." It said again, before again releasing a satellite at Narc.

Anticipating this. Narc's body glowed for a second, appearing behind the satellite floating towards him. His paws glowed again as the grabbed the back of the satellite, spun it around twice, and sent it flying at a second satellite aiming for him. Both of the crystals sparked brightly as they hit, and Narc felt himself smirk as he saw both of them bend slightly, as if under stress. He could see some hairline cracks on one of the Satellites.

Once again, the Crystalline being didn't respond. "Damage insignif-" It began to say, before being cut off as the more damage Satellite suddenly exploded, blinding the Quilava temporarily, as the crystal shattered like glass. He blinked again when he saw the main program wasn't saying anything.

"I didn't do that." Narc said incredulously.

"_Thanks for breaking the barrier._" Said a melodic voice. Narc paused, and cocked his head as a creature floated down the hall. It looked odd- like a Horsea, but with a more shriveled (yet much larger) body, with a large pipe-like nozzle and trailing fins.

The Kingdra regarded the program passively. "_My Sniper ability can destroy most objects based upon their weak points, however it was useless while the shielding function was activated by that program. You throwing one Satellite on the other caused one of the shields to overload._" It explained in a calm voice. "_We cannot destroy the main body's shield until all of the Satellites are decommissioned." _ It mentioned in an equally level voice.

"That is unlike-" The program began, but abruptly stopped as another satellite was launched, this one hitting the main body; there was a loud smacking sound and bright flash, and the satellite spun like a pinball, lodging itself into the wall. Moments later, a brown creature descended upon it, scythes flashing, leaving two large gashes in the material. Moments later, the Kingdra's nozzle glowed as it released a powerful wave of energy, striking the damaged satellite on a key point and destroying it.

"Kingdra." The Kabutops said, nodding. "Kabutops." It then said, nodding at Narc. Narc blinked, but nodded back.

The Program didn't waste any time on words this time around, this time rushing forward with a remaining satellite. It paused for a second, before releasing a massive wave of electricity, covering the entire area. The Kabutops winced as it was struck while clumsily trying to nodge, but the Kindra did not appear to have much trouble using its small fins as wings to glide between the bolts of electricity. Narc himself had much practice with dodging, and to him, this was simple child's play.

Moments later, the program released a powerful bolt of purple fire, loding itself firmly in the Kingdra's fin. The struck dragon moaned loadly, fin heavily damaged; Narc winced as he saw blood, most of the fin having been ripped off.

"Kingdra!" He heard the Kabutops yell, eyes gleaming red as it ran to defend its fallen comrade. It stood in front of the injured dragon, crossing its Scythes and diverting the electrical flow of the attacks away from the creature.

Narc blinked as he saw the room take on a slightly greenish hue, and a small green bubble appear on top of the main crystal. He gasped slightly, before launching himself between the guarding shellfish Pokemon and enemy; At the same moment, a powerful green beam was released by the crystal, intended for the Fossil Pokemon but hitting Narc himself. Narc growled as he felt his energy being drained, but his own inner flame seemed to fight off the leaching attack, and panted as he touched the ground.

"Hey. You want this?" A cheery voice said, breaking the silence. There was a pause, as the main crystal turned around, to witness a bored-looking Houndoom grooming herself, an angry Pikachu, and an amused Flygon, holding the remaining Satellite. Zeke smirked, and lobbed the thing right into the face of the machine, causing a massive flash an electrical sounding spark. His maw glowed with white power, before he followed it up by releasing the energy in a single burst of white light; The Hyperbeam gleamed off the metal walls, causing a blast of air as the even his two companions moved away to avoid the raw kickback of the attack. The computer program made loud, indecipherable noises as it was slammed backward into the wall and the floor, the light from the attack obscuring any details.

Moments later, Zeke stood panting, as he rubbed the spittle from his mouth with his arm. The main program body was slightly dented but intact, apparently welded into the melted metallic walls themselves. All of the satellites were destroyed, as the remaining crystal sparked pitifully. Narc smirked; despite not having launched the final blow, he was the one who figured how to apparently take off its un-defeatableness.

Ocean smirked, walked up to the sparking creature, and turned back. "I think she won", she said with a smirk. Narc smiled, and had to agree.

That is, until the creature beeped, making a loud announcement in a voice much unlike the one it had been using earlier- "_**Third Disk Download complete."**_

Narc paused, then glanced towards the table. He gulped as he saw that while the case was there, the disk with the compartment on it was missing. He blinked, and smirked nervously. "…Ah, well a bit late for that, aren't you? Your shield's off."

"Tis' a flesh wound." Zeke responded, watching the enemy with a bit of a snarl.

And suddenly, the world exploded.

Metal was torn asunder. All the Pokemon were blown backwards as the physical dimension of the area were torn apart and made into scrap by the massive burst of telepathic energy. The remaining Crystal released a charge of power, releasing a huge detonation on a now-flimsy, nearly destroyed wall, blowing it apart to reveal more of the network. The beat-up crystal floated towards it.

Aching in his every fiber, Narc cracked an eye open from underneath the shrapnel from the previous explosion. He willed his damaged body to stand up, and growled as his back flame increased to about three times the size, releasing a massive fireball at the opponent, then groaning after it, fighting to retrain consciousness.

The fireball stopped in mid-air three feet away from the crystal, by an invisible barrier. Kingdra groaned from a different part of the room. "_His barrier…"_ He muttered. "_He doesn't need the satellites anymore… and it's stronger… a lot stronger…"_ He groaned.

X-4 floated in place, but everyone could tell he was feeling triumphant. _**"Your goal was foolish. I am invincible with the third disk. I am complete."**_ It said, boastingly.

Narc groaned, and felt his limbs go soft. They had worked so hard to take him down before, and NOW, he's at his strongest? Narc wasn't one to give into despair. But…

"Not quite."

Everyone paused as an unfamiliar voice entered the fray. This one sounded similar to X-4 but… more emotional? It sounded arrogant, but not unkind… all together, less pompous than the other machine.

"_**Submit your serial number and status immediately." **_ X-4 said, now apparently noticing the intruder. Narc blinked- it was a white Porygon2, much like the ones he had seen earlier. He had only fought the Porygons, but he had seen Porygon2 among the ranks.

"My serial number is immaterial. My name is Sigma." The creature responded, and then, oddly, it seemed to give a digital little grin. "And I'm not sure about my status, but surely you cannot be perfect without… this?" He said, revealing an item he had been concealing around his body at the time.

Narc could feel everyone's gaze in the room widen. Suddenly, the air felt heavy.

Hovering near sigma, was a Hyperdisk labeled **X-4 / #4.**


	29. Delete

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 19**

**-**

**--**

-

The crystal computer seemed to stare at the newcomer. Sigma stared back, giving off the same air of machinelike inuhumanity as his opponent, and yet, none of the flesh-and-blood spectators hoped that the Porygon2 would lose.

Sigma struck first; For a split second, a golden orb hovered in front of his "beat", solitary and clear, like a jewel hovering in the air. The next moment, it exploded into a flurry of electric tendrils spreading each way in a branching, tree-like shape, flying towards its opponent like a shot from a gun. For a brief second, a shield appeared around the opponent, but surprisingly, the defense gave away and shattered.

'Z managed to spin away from it easily, but paused almost thoughtfully. "_**Impossible.**_" It said after a moment. "_**No Porygon2 model possesses the raw energy materials in order to break apart such a defense.**_"

Sigma seemed to give another digital grin. "Perhaps so, but it seems not, does it not?" It responded cheekily. The other machine spun around for a second, and seemed to gain a brown aura again.

Zeke's eyes widened, and the Earth-Dragon quickly turned around, yelling to the other spectators. "Duck and cover!" He exclaimed before pressing himself against the shattered floor, covering his eyes with his claws and wings with his body.

There was another massive explosion, as anything not already shrapnel was finally broken down. The unprepared audience were blown back from the shockwave either into the remnants of the damaged walls, or struck with various pieces of the shattered floor. Kabutops groaned slightly, having leapt to the front of the group only moments before; His body was covered in long scratched made from the shattered metal flooring, but ultimately undamaged due to his species' natural armor. He was only knocked back a couple feet, but was still standing, panting a little.

Kingdra, Narc and Ocean, having been behind the prehistoric Pokemon at the time, glanced up at him and mouthed their thanks. Kingdra just nodded and smiled, apparently pleased with his partner's actions.

Sigma laughed.

It was really odd. The laugh sounded barely digital, with only a hint of an off note here and there. Over all, it sounded very… organic, in its sounding. Narc coucked an eyebrow; He was getting more than more suspicious of this apparent ally. What kind of machine would laugh after an attack like that?

Sigma was completely undamaged, as the Light Screen in front of him attested. The other machine paused for another second. _**"That is also impossible."**_ It said in a low drone.

"Tough." Came the response, and what followed it was, in Narc's opinion, Death.

Pure, concentrated, death in physical form. It was a beam, mostly white with a slight light blue tiny, about two meters in diameter. Narc himself had seen hyperbeams; In fact, he had seen one only a couple seconds ago, with the Flygon. But, as the flygon's wide gaze showed, this was anything but the average hyperbeam.

The thing carved through anything in its way like tissue paper. Metal on the floor that hadn't already been scattered by the Focus Blast was melted to the ground as it passed by. The opposing computer attempted to dodge, but for some strange reason, appeared tied to the position it was in. As the hyperbeam approached, it erected its barrier, which held for an entire second before giving in, allowing it to be bathed in the destructive light.

The entire process took about two seconds. Sigma floated in place, the hyperbeam apparently having not even phased him. He seemed to give another grin, and Narc could have sworn his eyes turned red for a second.

"I told you this would be between us. Man to man, as they say. Though neither of us are really men."

Narc blinked as he sensed movement. His jaw dropped a little; the other machine was STILL moving. It sputtered for a couple seconds, then the giant crystalline structure righted itself. It displayed several minor cracks, along with a large scorch mark and wound where the beam had hit originally. Apparently, the contraption's body absorbed most of the blow before it became really dangerous. Narc blinked, wondering how retardedly well put together something would have to be to come out unphased from a hyperbeam as big as its body was.

The machine shifted slightly. "_**Logical analysis completed… Hello, Ryull.**__" _It said. Sigma smirked one more. "Took you long enough. Aren't you supposed to be a supercomputer capable of extremely complicated processes? Really isn't that big a leap of logic. I told you I'd be here, and I am."

The crystal didn't respond immediately, instead shifting around. _**"You used Imprison on me."**_

Sigma chuckled once more. "Imprison, Heal Block, and Mean Look. I even hit you with a Miracle Eye just in case. I took out your use of any technique I can use… and considering I'm possessing the body of your drones, that's pretty much all them."

The body shifted a little. _**"How did you receive the power to injure my body? If I remember correctly, your earlier attack did not even harm this body slightly…"**_

Sigma smirked in his robotic body. "I underestimated you, simple as that. My 'earlier attack' as you put it was just me letting off steam… you were annoying me. It was a spread-energy attack, intended to wipe everything in a certain area off the map, but of course not permanently damage the city. Do you wish to know how much of my power I used in that attack?" He said, mechanical face almost splitting from his grin.

Narc had to blink; something had to give. Those bodies didn't look made to make grins, let alone the type the apparent possessor of the body was doing. He really stopped caring a little, and only refrained from going to sleep because there was shrapnel around the ground. He looked around his paws, yawned, and stood up. He got a couple odd glances, as he walked to the door. "I'm leavin'" He said, not turning around. "Too weird for me. I don't know what these Pory-whatevers are, but it doesn't concern me any longer. Or ever did, really. You can go all kill yourselves as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to find the others. Well, mainly the fems, but you get the idea…" He muttered, as he walked out.

Sigma chuckled. "Indeed. Well, if you were wondering that attack I used to blow up the building was about 8% of my full power, in a very inefficient and spread-out way, of course." He chuckled a little. "In this body, I can release up to… ough, about 20, maybe 30 if I press it, percent of my power without completely disintegrating it. And, that power I can concentrate into a compact beam-form… A pity I didn't kill you with that hyperbeam, it was at least 14 percent power. Not enough to tire me out, but enough to vaporize most small steel types."

The Crystal clicked in response. "_**Enemy: Ryull, located. Activating necessary wards and preparations. Preparing for combat."**_ It said in a monotonous voice.

Sigma cocked a cyber-eyebrow. "Eh? What preparations could you possibly ma-"

His sentence was cut off as the chest portion of the robot was ripped apart by a cyber-claw. Sigma pulled back almost immediately, but still left off with a shredded main portion. He winced a little as the exposed electrical parts sparked. "What the HELL was that?" He exclaimed.

The main crystal part turned around a little. _**"Ryull. Senior member of Fenrir, second in command. Species: Gengar. Abilities: Advanced Future Sight, possibly outclassing that of Giratina himself. Extreme control and abilities over almost any physical attack. Advanced Shapeshifting abilities, considered only inferior to fellow Fenrir Member, Nagimi. Contains enough power to theoretically be capable of globular destruction. History documents indicate is more sympathetic than usual members of Fenrir-**_

"Feh." Sigma responded. "Sympathetic? What crap, I'm not quite as heartless as Omen, but compared to bleedin' heat Nagi and our own resident emotional kid, Baou, I'm a stiff."

"_**-Which translates into creating groups of 'Nakama', small groups of mortals he has taken a liking to. Tends to have a playful, inefficient personality, more likely to annoy enemies than destroy them-"**_

"You'll be plenty annoyed in a couple minutes, when you're scrap."

"_**-However, contains the destructive power to theoretically defeat a low-tier Legendary. Hidden Power Element: Ground. Threat Level: Extreme. Weaknesses: A tendency to allow enemies to speak, extreme cockiness, lack of discipline, small imagination, slow reaction time without Future Sight abilities, lack of restraint in certain cases. Can be defeated effectively by an accurate, high-speed fighter, such as in documents collected from examinations of Omen."**_

Sigma grunted slightly, seeming less and less like a robotic creature. "Is that so-" He hastily dived to the side as a shadow struck by him, then swore loudly as it swerved quickly, punching through the wound before with a blast of electric energy. He tossed the Porygon upwards, who tried to respond with several thunderbolts, missing the shadow each time. The formless shape made its way up to him, striking another claw through him, this one covered in dark shadows and causing him to yell out in pain. It pulled out the claw, struck with what seemed like a foot, and drove the contraption to the ground, before erupting in flame, singing the mechanical construct but getting blocked by a light screen. The shadow responded with three quick strikes, quickly shattering the screen and smashing the neck of the mechanical greature, before slashing twice with three-clawed hands, backflipping backwards, then lashing forward with what appeared to be a shadow-like whip.

Zeke's eyes were bugging out. "It fights like Omen!" He hissed. Ocean nodded slightly, narrowing her eyes. "I can barely see it move. It's that fast. What the hell is it?" She said with a slight growl. Zeke shrugged. "I… don't know. It looks like a ghost, but what ghost would help that computer-thing? Actually, what ghost would fight Ryull? What ghost COULD fight Ryull, Omen excepted?"

Baou watched the one-sided battle, and shook his head, gem-like eyes glinting. "It's that thing." He said, jutting a claw at the main Crystal. "It made a hologram-type thing. Probably based off Omen's data. I suppose it functions like a robot ghost…"

The surface of the crystal seemed to change. _**"That is correct." **_It said, before apparently shedding a sheen of light from it. A second later, it shook as it absorbed energy, the cracks disappearing and its injuries fading away.

Ocean scowled, standing up, apparently uninjured. "Perhaps I should take you on then…" She said in a dangerous, low-voice. Zeke flinched, and grabbed her by the tail. Ocean yowled, growled, and glanced back at Zeke with a dark glare. Zeke grinned sheepishly.

"This is Ryull's show… we shouldn't steal it from him."

"Even while he's getting his face smashed in?" He said, muttering and pointing at the Porygon 2 being thoroughly dismantled. Zeke shrugged. "Technically not HIS face. He's possessing something, right? Let's watch to see how this plays out first…"

Ocean crossed her arms. "Fine, what the hell." She glanced around, and frowned. "Where's that last hyperdisk again?" She muttered. "You know, the one he stole from us? He had it here for some reason…"

Zeke blinked, and glanced around. "I'm… not sure…He had it on his body, so…"

He winced as the Porygon 2 was shoved against the floor, and ground into it to dust. The machine had been almost completely destroyed by that time, so it wasn't much of a difference, but he doubted Ryull could still possess it.

He was wrong. Almost as that happened, a string of dust and remaining parts reached out like a tentacle, tying itself around the leg of the hologram-phantom, which seemed to have physical presence. The shadow seemed to gasp, showing a true form at least; It resembled a Mismagius, but dark and translucent, without the hat or necklace commonly associated with the species. The line of debris pulled, then surged over the creature, ripping it apart with its entire components, like a swarm of angry insects. Moments later, fragments of darkness dispersed from the miscellaneous parts, forming into a dark shape, with bright red eyes, and a wide smile.

The gengar smirked, and crossed his arms. "NOW, we play for real." He said, before reaching into his stomach. He pulled out his Hyperdisk from his stomach, and waved it at the main Crystal. "If you want it, you'll have to fight me for it. None of this projection crap, or me possessing something. This time, it'll just be me, and you…"

The crystal seemed to nod, before its surface shimmered. Moments later, appearing before the creatures was a slight translucent creature… it appeared to be made of Porygon Parts, but mis-matched and put together in an almost random order.

Ryull smirked widened. "Your true form? This will be fun…"

Z seemed to nod. "Indeed." He said in a voice, much thinner and less forceful than his regular one. "This form is much faster than my usual one." He said, in elaboration. Ryull quickly swallowed the Hyperdisk again, then smirked and went into a battle stance, wagging a claw. "Come on." He said, eyes literally glowing in anticipation.

Ocean frowned, looking between the crystal structure and the Porygon Z. Something seemed… off. Although the crystal was now motionless, it still levitated, and Ocean seemed to sense... something. A presence, maybe? She growled a little, fur sticking upwards, as she released a large Thunderbolt at the crystal structure. There was a brief pause, then the structure glowed white. It absorbed the strike, then after a couple seconds, released a massive thunderstorm of electricity. Ocean's eyes got wide for a second before she was hit with lightning that ignored her biological components, causing her body to shut down in agony. Zeke was in a similar scenario. Hiromi yowled in response, body twitching for a few seconds before she fainted. Baou faded out before the attack hit him. The two water types fainted almost instantaneously, saved only from death by the natural sturdiness of their bodies and their training.

Z glanced over at the unconscious Pokemon, and seemed to charge up. Ryull beat him to it, waving a paw. The Pokemon seemed to disappear. Z looked back at him. "It seems I was right." He said in that quiet voice. "You have developed a fondness for these mortals."

Ryull seemed to grin. "Not quite that, your 'Zness. I simply don't like to see good souls die unfermented, that's all."

Z seemed to quirk an eyebrow; the first sign of a personality that Ryull had ever seen in him.

"Very well." He said after a moment, before disappearing in a burst of speed.

Ryull glanced around looking for a second, before slashing with a claw, a wave of fire extending from it. Z dodged dynamically, stretching towards him. A triangle appeared at the tip of his beak for a second, before releasing a triangular beam of three composite colors. Ryull swerved to dodge it, then formed a large Shadowball in his palm, tossing it while simultaneously charging another one. Z avoided them, darkness growing at his beak tip, as he released a wave of dark energy at the Gengar. Ryull responded by punching a hole through the wave with his Shadowball, before grinning and disappearing into shadows a second later.

Z swerved once again as Ryull appeared behind him, releasing a pre-charged Tri-beam at the ghost, who grunted at the attack, and threw both his hands infront of him; A moment later, a detonation of sheer explosive energy came out from his brown fingertips, negating the attack, and pressing onward, obscuring the area in the smoke of incinerated shrapnel.

Ryull growled out in pain as a Dark Pulse struck him in the back, falling a little bit before getting back up, growling. He wasn't fragile by any meaning of the term, but PorygonZ were designed with one thing in mind- Pure offensive force. A PorygonZ normally had extremely dangerous Beam capabilities, and the advanced X-4, combined with the two disks he had absorbed thusfar, made them incredibly formidable. And despite that, Ryull really WAS more suited to attacking than he was defending.

The entire exchange took only mere seconds at the speeds they were going, almost too fast for most eyes to catch with effectiveness. Ryull growled, eyes glinting, and released a barrage of Dark Pulses, carefully avoided by Z, who responded with a storm of Swift Stars. Ryull grunted upon seeing the homing attacks; Normally, as a ghost, they would phase through them, but among the other things Z had absorbed was the ability of perpetual foresight (Some humans called the ability "Scrappy", which had nothing to do with how it actually worked, but whatever). He carefully launched several Shadowballs that disrupted the stars, before moving acrobatically in the air and releasing a powerful Blizzard, accompanied by several Thunderbolts. Z responded in kind with a Weatherball, taking upon itself the winds of the Blizzard and negating them, and shielding himself with a formidable Light screen.

Ryull panted. Although the attacks he used seemed ordinary enough, they were at 30% of his power; Enough that they looked normal, but were really supersaturated with power to the point that one of them to the chest of a Tyrannitar would take it out with ease. Even Z's barriers, which were built to resist Nuclear Strikes from other countries, couldn't resist a perpetual onslaught of them, and he was forced to rely mainly on his dodging. Again. He made some inner calculations; He could go up to about 35% without destroying the bunker. If he did that, he would lose his focus and control, and wouldn't be able to properly condense his techniques. Z knew how to dodge, and could use proper moves to survive and retaliate against a mega assault like that. In fact, that was what he was built to respond against.

Ryull felt like growling. He couldn't use TOO much of his power, as Z knew how to deal with that. A single solider with abilities like his was new to the machine, and he had to come up with his own plans. If he went to the point where his attacks were like military strikes, he'd be matching wits with the programs put in their by the Hoenn Military. He had matched wits with them before, and it hadn't worked out well enough for either of them.

Z surpised him by moving around from behind, and releasing a wave of water energy that seemed like surf. Ryull easily negate it with Light Screen, then quickly used Psychic to guide the water after Z like tentacles. The machine responded in kind by using a second surf, creating a sphere of water that emanated outward. Ryull frowned as he put up lightscreen again to negate it, then winced as the creature used its own Psychic, overriding his through the new water that was put in, then made it into a large tentacle, slamming it at Ryull.

Ryull dodged easily, his paw crackling with electricity, as he launched it into the water, causing it to spark. He smirked in victory as he quickly override the creatures Psychic, moving the water back into the creature, and causing him to be struck with lightni-

Suddenly, Ryull fell to the ground, through the water, his body like lead. He literally coughed up the disk, moaning. Z seemed to grin.

"My physical body, until now, was storing up Gravity. It converted your electricity into power, and used it to negate most of your abilities… also, it's used a slight Ghost Barrier in order to weaken your inherit abilities."

Ryull cursed a little. There was little even he could do from within a Ghost barrier.

Z swooped down, and grabbed the hyperdisk. He seemed to be grinning. "With this… I shall be complete." He said with a grin. Ryull said nothing; He had found the disk where he had lost it. Quite literally. He remembered it clearly; His sense of freedom at Giratina's ultimatum, causing him to fly from Fenrir airspace… and then, catching a whiff of a powerful ghost. Diving down to see what it was, he noticed the spot that the Future Ryull had felt him up for his pen, and also took the Disk.

He didn't find future Ryull, but he did find the Hyperdisk, waiting for him neatly on a rock. A stickynote was attached to it, saying nothing but "Sorry.". On the other hand, there was no sign of his pen.

Ryull reached out feebilly with an arm, and growled. It was no use. The gravity was strong enough to pin him to the ground, and the ghost barrier stopped him from phasing out. More than likely, the Porygon Z had somehow been made to deal with gravitational changes, the Hoenn Military though of things like that.

"With this… I will be complete." The program said with a slightly crazed look in his eyes. "I shall be complete, and then, everything shall be my domain. I shall reign over all… everything. I shall rein over Giratina… over the humans… over the Pokemon… over Arceus herself…" The program made a mad giggle. "I was created by humans, to take over! I was created to take land, to keep it, to wage war, to stop others from winning! I was constructed to replace leadership in war! I was created… to RULE!" He practically yelled, his voice bytes changing. "I was created… to be the MASTER OF ALL!" The continued.

Ryull chuckled.

His laugh sounded in the empty bunker, without anyone there. The gravity only helped, somehow amplifying the echoing sound. Z glanced back at the ghost, evidently upset he had been interrupted.

"Z. You have it wrong." The Gengar said with a chuckle. "You're nothing. The humans made you with half a brain, and let you fill in the other half yourself… That part of you that thirsts for conquest, that wants to destroy, that looks for power… was formed from me. From us. From everyone. In Fenrir, you took notes on everyone… and integrated a little of their personality into yourself. You did that with everyone else, too. You're fraud,

Z. You weren't made for anything… the only reason you got this far, was because you copied us. Our combat, our abilities, our weaknesses… But that's it. That's all you do… that's all you can do…"

He cackled loudly. "You have no soul, and yet you're not a ghost either. You're nothing but a weapon, 'Z. A weapon made of silicon, but a weapon none the less. You're a tool, made for killing others. A tool useless without one behind it. And in this case, the one behind it would be… well, I guess it would be me…"

Z glared at him. "Shut up… shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP, _SHUT UP, SHUT UP, __**SHUT UP!"**_ He screeched in an increasingly loud, and deranged voice. "I am lord! I am master! I am GOD!" He said, in a low growl. "And now… I shall ascend to the heavens…" He said, with a slight spark from his eyes. He the hyperdisk floated infront of him, and Z closed his cyber eyes. Information streamed from the disk into him. "Yes… I feel it…" The cooed. "The power… the infinite powers of a god! Yes… yes…No…" He said, shaking a little bit. "What is this… I don't even…" He muttered, before trying to pull away from the disk. "No, no, no, what is this… What! What!" He yelled, growling.

Ryull simply smiled.

"Please! No, not…what! HELP!" The computer creature cried out, body getting lighter colored. Pixles from his sides were disappearing. "What is happening to me? No… a virus? How did I get a virus? I can't be infected he screeched."

Ryull smirked wider. "It's not a virus. It's your final part, as you said. Your FINAL part. It's a program designed to 'cull' you, if you got too powerful, by the Hoenn military… I think I forgot about it until now." He chuckled good-naturedly. "Essentially, it's a mandatory uninstall program. You know all those backups of you on the internet you made? It hits them too."

The program's eyes got smaller.

Ryull chuckled more. "See, if I had given this to you at first, none of this would have happened. You would have died, and the world would have been none the wiser. Now, I wonder, what impact did your presence have on the world? I'm inclined to say it was a good one, since I went to such lengths to ensure it happened…"

He smirked, and stopped chuckling, before getting up. The Gravity had dissipated.

"You were disposable to the humans. You're disposable to me. You're disposed. Goodbye." The gengar said cheerfully, as the program flailed it's last, before disappearing in a shower of left-over pixels.

The crystal fell to the ground and onto it's side with a loud crash, lifelessly.

Ryull smirked serenely, looking around. "Quiet in here." He whispered slightly.

And then, his pupils enlarged a little. His red eyes blinked twice, a golden sheen coming to his pupils. He started laughing, a light chuckle at first, followed by a full-fletched cackle, and ending in hysterics, as he laughed longer and harder than any living being could possibly do. He smirked, his eyes finally opened to the future once more.

"I think it's time I visited Giratina again…" He whispered quietly, before fading away.


	30. Reboot

**Act 2 – Silicon Weapon**

**Chapter 20**

**-**

**--**

-

"So… that's it?"

The boy's tone sounded mildly irritated, and his two human friends had to chuckle at the inappropriateness of it. Sean frowned at their response, huffing a bit. "I'm the son of the police commander of Mauville, you know. My Pokemon should've handled it."

Sasha winked at him. "Course they should have, Seanny." She cooed in a babyish voice, ruffling his already messy hair. Sean blinked and fumed, attempting to get his hair orderly once more; It was becoming increasingly obvious to her that he was a much more organized person than herself or Zack. A bit naïve and lighthearted, but organized and persnickety too. Puzzling.

She chuckled a little. "I don't think any of us could have beaten it, Sean, so don't feel bad. Hey look, the sky's clearing up!" She said, pointing to the skies, which seemed a little pinkish, though it was very evident the barrier was dissolving out of the very sky.

Sean blinked and smirked. "So it is. What was that red sky anyway?" He said, crossing his arms thoughtfully.

Zack chuckled, took a stalk of some sort of plant from his pocket and sucked on the end. "Barrier." He said nonchalantly. "From the time he put it up, nobody could get out, nobody could come in. 'Cept a ghost, maybe. Only thing that could block a ghost would be a ghost barrier, and that would kill every ghost INSIDE the barrier too; I get the feeling it didn't want casualties. For some reason." He muttered.

Sean shook his head. "All military programs and personnel are made to minimize civilian casualty, in Hoenn at least." He frowned. "Though we clearly saw it attacking others, also…" He frowned and sat down. "It's weird… maybe it was confused?" He offered.

Zack shrugged. "Perhaps we'll never know."

Sean sighed, got up, and stretched. Suddenly, he paused. "Crap…" he muttered.

Sasha blinked curiously. "What's up now?"

"I just realized… out of all my Pokemon, all six of them, I only have two accounted for… Timeria and Narc." He frowned. "I don't like that… with all the things that happened, do you think that they…" He let the words hang in the air.

Zeke, the Flygon, seemed to chuckle, flying in the air with his wide, green wings. His injuries having been long taken care of, he seemed to have more energy than he had in a long while. "I wouldn't worry about them… That group's surprisingly hardy." He said with a knowing wink. The humans all blinked blankly at him, obviously not understanding a word.

Ocean sighed. "Why must you speak to them, when you know they can't hear, Zeke?" She muttered. Hiromi the Houndoom was next to her, grooming herself idly with her tongue. While tongue-grooming was generally considered too intimate to do to oneself in polite public, the Houndoom hardly cared and was too bored to lift a paw to perform it the other way. She'd already made the Quilava wince thrice upon showing him exactly HOW strong her jaws were, and he didn't seem to be around, so she hardly cared.

Then, she sniffed. She blinked; Most Pokemon had a good sense of smell, but Houndoom were among the best. She growled a little; There was an… Alpha Male, somewhere around here. She stood up, causing Ocean beside her to blink, and glanced around.

Baou was nearby, relaxing against the white building that was the Pokemon Stadium of the area, having transported the group back to where they began; Right outside the doors of the Cyanville stadium. Hiromi curiously approached the gym, sniffing every so often; Indeed, it was the unmistakable scent of an Alpha Houndoom male. If one would ask how she would know an Alpha's scent from a normal Houndoom, she probably couldn't have answered; It was something biological she wasn't too picky on seeing how it worked.

Still, she enjoyed finding Alphas, especially males, and showing them exactly HOW weak they were. She hated cocky people in general, but a fellow Houndoom doing it bugged her to no extent. Ocean had once mentioned that she flirted by Curb-Stomping her opponents. She wasn't far off the mark.

She smirked, blocked for a second by the glass doors but soon figured out how to maneuver her canine form through. She looked around, inhaling the scents of the area; It was unmistakable. And very, very fresh. She glanced around, ignoring a pissed-off looking Raichu nearby. The raichu seemed to charge itself with electricity but didn't use a long range attack, instead coming forth to deliver the thunderpunch she knew was coming.

She slinked under his body, knocking him off balance momentarily, before quickly tripping him up with her arrow tail, not breaking stride. The electric rodent, though now on the floor, tried to get up; She hesitated for a second before striking him between the eyes with one of her back eyes. His pupils dilated for a second, before he collapsed to the floor.

There was an Eevee there, though he seemed a bit too intimidated by the Raichu's speedy defeat to try an attack; He launched a feeble-looking Trump Card at her, which she once again dodged with only the slightest movement of her body.

She noticed an unbreon and lucario in the distance, but didn't bother to take much other stock when they didn't seem to be interested in her.

And then, finally, she saw him.

His eyes seemed to get bigger, almost as if in fear for a second, before he got a confident smirk. He chuckled. "And what's a bitch like you, doing in a place like this?" He said smugly. She noticed with some interest his body stance; he seemed nervous for some reason. She wondered why for a second, but chuckled when she supposed it didn't matter.

She gave him a smirk and sat upright, tail coiled almost coyly around her. Her tone was mocking. "Oh, excuse me. Have I wandered into the den of a BIG, STRONG Alpha?"

She said, chuckling and walking in a circle around him, tail tapping his forehead lightly.

She noted he seemed to be charmed for a second, but quickly shook himself out of it, and snarled. "Indeed. I'm Alpha of the Aries clan. Get the hell out of here."

"Oh? And if I don't want to?" She smirked, and licked his neck briefly. He responded with a louder snarl, quickly flashed his short front claws across her cheek and retreated. She smirked, noticing a couple drops of blood fall from the scratch on her cheek. "You seem tense. Just what I'd expect for a coward of a male leader…" She said, a scowl coming onto her features.

Aries growled at that. "Coward?" He demanded.

She smirked. "Exactly."

He growled again, and charged headfirst at her. She smirked, and reared her head, interlocking horns with him when he charged, both absorbing the impact from the connection with their skull plates.

And then, she kissed him.

He blinked in confusion and initially tried to pull back, though was unable to due to their horns. He blinked and whined when he felt something warm and somewhat painful enter down his throat. He blinked and whimpered a little when he figured out that whatever it was, clogged up his lungs. He would cough if his lips weren't locked with hers; He tried to exhale through his nose, but nothing he inhaled seemed to reach the lungs. His mind felt foggy, and he registered that he couldn't even make fire from lack of air.

He felt lightheaded and saw spots. He felt nauseous too; Was what he was doing poisonous? He felt his life gradually slipping away, until suddenly, there was a jolt of immense pain; He would have screamed, if he had any breath. And then, he descended into blessed unconsciousness.

Hiromi yelled out in pain, releasing the Alpha's mouth and hastily untangling their horns. She glared at the newcomer; A female pikachu she was well acquainted with. "What the hell was that for, Ocean?"

The pikachu glared back. "Well, for one, you knocked out Ray-" She said, jutting a claw at the fainted raichu. "And two, you shouldn't be killing random houndoom in the first place! What were you doing anyway?" She demanded.

The Houndoom give a guilty grin. "I might have been, you know, filling his lungs with Smog…" She muttered after a second.

Ocean sighed, and put her hand into her paw. "Anyone have a Pecha berry?" She muttered. A female lucario nearby held out a hand, and searched a small back by her side. After a moment, she brought out a pecha berry, and tossed it to the electrical rodent.

Ocean muttered her thanks before she went up to the canine and carefully fed him the berry. Hiromi watched, a somewhat smug look on her face, tail twitching. Even though she hadn't beaten the other Houndoom, she at least came close, she supposed. That was fine.

"Hello, Hiromi." She heard a somewhat smug voice say from behind.

The houndoom turned casually to see who was watching her, and her eyes grew until they were saucers. "O-oh…O-o-oh… H-hi… Jet…" She said, voice cracking as she looked like she was caught in headlights. The umbreon in question smirked, as if he enjoyed her reaction. He gestured to the downed canine; "Not half bad work, I admit. But unfortunately, if you completed it, -I- would be the one taking the soul back. And as you know, I hate work."

Hiromi blinked and looked at the ground. "But… There's only a small chance the soul would get stuck… p-plus, I'm a certified reaper too…" She muttered quietly. Normally, she was quite argumentative, but she couldn't honestly say anything against those eyes. She expected the child of Ryull to have insane, bloodshot eyes thirsting for vengeance, but instead, all one saw was twin moons with perfectly circular black disks in either one. They were the brightest eyes she had ever seen, and unlike some Umbreon, weren't red.

Jet chuckled, then muttered in disinterest, as if he wasn't worth his time. "Unfortunately, Ryull has a warped sense of humor. He recently placed a certain curse upon me that removes nearby souls' pathfinding ability, meaning if I witness a death, I'll also need to manually Guide it." He scowled a little. "He put a similar curse on some other psychotic Umbreon; every death he causes gets stuck automatically, too. And Ryull's made it a point to only send me to get these specific souls. He does it only to irritate me, I'm afraid." He muttered.

"Oh… I'm… sorry to hear…" Hiromi muttered. She knew about Ryull, but hadn't really seen him very much; her jobs in Fenrir didn't usually coincide with the elder ghost's. And plus, she was usually with Sasha, as was Ocean. Zeke and Baou often had jobs within the actual Fenrir complex, the latter moreso than the former due to being Fenrir's ONLY known scribe. Some claimed the Sableye could list off every ghost in current existence by name, species, usual location, and loyalty. She personally hadn't witnessed it and thought of him more as a dumbass than a scribe, but whatever.

"Friend of yours?" Said a light voice. Hiromi blinked as the lucario she had noticed stooped down to the quadruped's level, putting her arm around Jet's shoulder. Hiromi's mood drooped.

"Ah… J-jet, this is your…" She paused. The lucario cocked her head inquisitively at her.

"Mate?" She offered.

Hiromi could feel her heart shattering. She faked a smile. "A-ah… I d-didn't know you had one, Jet…"

The Umbreon's ears furrowed.

"I don't." He muttered. Hiromi blinked.

"But she just said…" She said weakly.

The Lucario gave a smile. "Well, that's what I thought you were alluding to. I'm not, by the way, I'm his bounty hunter. He's my bounty. My paycheck, that is, not the detergent."

She giggled a little to the blank stares of the dark-furred creatures near her.

"Though I could see where you make that mistake. There isn't much difference between the two, really. Cept' I don't have to actually, you know, mate with him. Yet, anyway. I'll keep you posted." She said cheerfully. Hiromi blinked and nodded.

- - -

Even the scientist looked around the streets of Cyanville. He breathed out a little. "Who…" He said. He looked around at the various rubble, and swallowed. "How many?" He asked.

I blinked, beside him. "How many what?" I asked. My mind was still throbbing a bit, and I was comfortable speaking physically. True, this way I couldn't speak directly to him, but the glaceon Mateo was coiled up around his neck again and had his muzzle right to his ear anyway. The scientist paused. "How many lost their lives to it?" He asked, with a sigh. "The machine?" I asked. It was unnecessary, as there wasn't anything else of notice that would cause destruction like this

The scientist nodded numbly, and shuffled his feet. "I… am an inventor. For Rockets, but I believe my allegiance lies more with creativity than anything else… I worked for the Hoenn military for a while… I… am not the most morality inclined. But at least, with others, it's other people who pull the trigger… I'm entirely responsible for X-4. All of it. Even the name… it doesn't have any significance, it's just a sequence of numbers and letters I thought sounded cool. It's filename is actually , much less threatening…" He muttered. "I programmed the sentience, all of it…" He sighed.

"I went a little insane at some point. The military… they wanted to shut down X-4. But he was my crowning achievement… so I split him up into three disks, and just in case, made a fourth to uninstall him. If left to his own devices, without someone to properly direct him, he would seek out the fourth and destroy himself. I thought it out well."

He muttered. "I didn't know he'd go to such lengths to get it though…" He said with a sigh, looking fairly depressed.

I had lost interest in that point, and began looking around. I momentarily considered that I was becoming a bit like that Quilava; moving away from things that didn't hold interest, instead deciding to look around for something else that could hold my attention. In any case, it hadn't taken long before I saw my object of attention hovering in place.

"Chulu." I said calmly, walking up to the confused looking Tentacool. He was an oddity; He didn't have much proficiency at normal Tentacool-abilities, however he was a powerful psychic, rivaling myself even without training. He didn't have any memories either, oddly enough, only instincts, as if he were born at his current age. I had taken him under my wing of sorts, but he still occasionally got away from me to examine something or another. I wasn't really that worried, as he didn't seem to ever bring harm upon himself, and let him learn as he will.

I blinked as I caught mind-waves from him radiating… happiness?

I quirked an eyebrow. Chulu didn't understand emotions, let alone use them. "Chulu." I said levelly. "Why are you happy?" I said with a friendly gesture.

"…_I made a friend."_ Came the childish response. His telepathy was like an Abra's, unpredictable and unrefined, but still understandable.

"Who?" I responded, mentally wishing I had my notepad.

"_He says his name is Pro… But I don't think so."_ He said, the happiness fading away before it came back in full force. _"He said people need friends to be happy. He has a lot of friends, and now they're my friends too."_

Tiris quirked an eyebrow. "Indeed… And do you know these friends?" She asked.

Chulu paused, and shook his head; Then he paused again, and nodded. _"Haven't met yet… but he says I… And we will meet one soon." _

He paused.

"_He says we'll meet him when a Vision of White brings Wealth… he said we'd know when it happens. And his name…"_

He paused, as if to remember.

Tiris blinked, and nodded. "Yes, what was the name?"

"_His name… Is Xanatos. _

_**End of Act 2**_

--

**Author's Comment-**

**Alright, that wraps it up for Silicon Weapon. But don't worry, the story isn't near done yet. I'll be back in about a month, with Act 3 – Deaths in the Family.**

**Keep an eye out for Chapter 31 of Until Dawn – "**_**The Wheel of Xanatos**_**"**


	31. The Wheel of Xanatos

**Act 3 – Death in the Family**

**Chapter 1  
**

**-**

**--**

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Thunder rumbled in the skies as sheets of rain fell from the heavens. Flashes lit up the dark sky seemingly at random and the mighty boom of thunder covered and sort of sound. Any sane creature was tucked away in its nest, whether that was in the forest or in the city.

**The strings of Fate pull us in many directions, despite our best wishes…**

A four legged creature panted as she raced down the rough path between the roots of the trees. The thick forest path was slick with mud, covering her paws and body as she ran for her life. She climbed over roots and fallen trees, trying to ignore the stinging of her side as a crimson liquid dripped from a gash on her side, mingling with the mud.

"Shira…" She whimpered pitifully, trying to block out the pain and terror.

**Every direction has its own path to take, it's own branching directions…**

Fleeing through the groves of trees, she cried out in pain as the twigs and broken fragments of dead trees clawed through her fur, but gritted her teeth and persevered, leaving tiny flecks of red behind that were soon cleaned by the torrential rain.

Breaking through to another gap in the trees, she whimpered as she looked around at the various directions before selecting one that seemed to have less trees that could claw into her hide. She barreled through the dying plant life in the shadows of the larger trees, twining her bodies through the branching paths found between the trees. She had no particular destination except to get away from where she was as quickly as physically possible.

"Orin…" She muttered under her breath in desperation and longing.

**But fear of Fate is necessary to retain perspective. With each path comes its own dangers, and with each danger, a choice between Right and Wrong.**

The running creature paused with desperation when she came to a massive tree blocking her way. She looked to the right, and to the left; Each had a large amount of pricky-looking trees, fallen branches, and hazards. She looked between the two in a frenzy before running to the left, her aching legs making the decision instead of her muddled mind. All she could think of was fear, and with fear came irrational actions.

She knew the predator knew that too, and it was lying in wait, for her to make a mistake, trip up. She ran as fast as she could, drawing up her aching joints and muscles, in a desperate final attempt at escape from the unknown enemy.

"Mateo…" She whispered pitifully.

**Choose the correct path, and it will lead you to life and prosperity, tying together luck, happiness and love.**

She leapt over increasingly large bits of wood on the ground, evidently shrapnel from a lightning strike in the far past of this portion of the forest. She dearly hoped that the sayings were true and lightning never struck the same spot twice.

It would be a cruel fate indeed to escape this near-inescapable adversary only to be struck down by a god's perverted joke.

She dived under a particularly massive tree trunk, and whimpered in pain and terror when she noticed she was partially stuck. She tugged and tugged, willing her body to escape from this prison before the hunter caught on, before the one she fled caught up to her prone form.

With a Herculean effort and a cry of anguish, she ripped her body from under the trees prone form, leaving behind several strands of shed fur, left due to being trapped by the tree still or pulled from her pelt from the effort.

Terrified by this momentary distraction, she hurried her pace, and felt her heart jump into her throat when lightning flashed, revealing an opening in the wall of trees. Behind it was a city.

Safety. Home.

Emboldened by this appearance of an end, she forced her already-beaten muscles to increase their speed, keeping her eyes trained on the dull light emitted from the starlike-lighting of the urban society only a precious distance away from her.

She didn't see the small tree trunk before her before she ran right into it, her back leg caught in it. The sudden force caused the branch to roll over, causing her caught leg to overextend with a loud SNAP. She gasped, the air in the back of her throat catching as she felt blood ripple from her side wound.

Injured and unable to move further, the quadruped finally bent down and cried, her salty tears mingling with the rain.

"Ceila…" She said mournfully.

**But choose the wrong path in Fate's cruel twists, and…**

The quadruped's ears pricked upwards. A cloud moved, revealing the full face of the round moon, shining its light downward. Lighning rumbled in the distance.

Bathed in the soft moonlight, a red-eyed being stepped forward, a maniacal grin on his visage.

"Please…" pleaded the fallen creature, her words barely a whimper. "P-please… don't…"

There was a glint of the moon as the sound of a blade ripping through flesh cut through the night.

There was a piecing scream emanating from the forest, drowned out with the final boom of thunder as divine lightning crashed across the forest like the halo of a fallen angel.

A lilac-colored pelt was dyed red by blood.

A final whimper escaped her lips before she descended into the Darkness.

"…Ven…"

**You die.**

**

* * *

  
**

Ven blinked open his eyes, as he leaned his weight backwards, stretching in a very feline-posture. He yawned deeply as he awoke from his nap, opening one blue eye to look around and shook his head.

"Bizzare dream…" He muttered.

The Eevee sat down as he looked about. He sniffed; the sky was dark, and the distinct scent of ash seemed to permeate everywhere. A quick glance around assured him he wasn't where he remembered where he was last, but he shrugged and attributed it to having slept for so long. Looking at the time of day, he had apparently either slept only a couple hours or almost all the way through the next day. Keeping his own sleeping manners in mind, he thought it was more likely it were the later.

He saw the other members of his 'team' bent over a fire, which evidently Narc had either eventually consented or was tricked into lighting. Narc himself was bundled up into a ball a little ways away, the embers on his back still dancing as if to taunt any would-be predators that wanted to take a bite of his flesh, sound asleep.

The buizel, Timeria, seemed to have gone fishing, considering there was a plate of raw fish that the others were periodically spearing onto sticks and cooking in the open flames. He noticed she had the largest fish to herself, which was more evidence she had caught them herself. She pulled her stick back after a couple seconds, blew on it slightly (which caused steam to rise, possibly due to more moisture being in her breath than most normal creatures), and took a bite of it while it was still on the stick.

Ray himself was holding a stick of a noticeably smaller fish, and for once seemed less grumpy. Ven felt some of his memories returning of the past few days… Right, his "trainer" of sorts had returned around the same time the crazy things that had been happening in Mauville had ended. As a group, they left pretty quickly once they were all together. Ven got the distinct impression none of them wanted to be around that city for longer than strictly necessary afterwards.

Stretching once more, Ven recalled the stories Narc had told afterwards about that weird Porygon, of course most of it revolving around the flaafy who he had protected for a total of about an hour before rejoining with the main group (and yet, he still rather proudly managed to boast about having "made it" with her while they were in Dewford, waiting for their transportation back to Mauville. Ven wondered what her response to him leaving the city practically the same day was.) and the mysterious Mawile that had appeared and disappeared almost as quick.

He wasn't too sure what happened to the others; The Houndoom alpha, who was surprisingly civil for someone who was enough of a bastard to abuse their mate (specifically, his sister), he had last seen knocked unconscious by a completely different Houndoom. The Lucario and strangely familiar Umbreon he simply hadn't noticed as he left.

He paused as he heard his stomach grumble, and reasoned, if he really had slept for that long, he should be pretty hungry.

He sat near Ray, about as far away from the Buizel as possible; while he was somewhat used to female contact (having two sisters he grew up with), the sea-mammal was apparently still embarrassed about having clung to him for several weeks.

He grabbed a fish from a nearby pile, skewered it on a stick with some difficulty, and alternated it between his forepaws before finally settling on holding it in his mouth while pressing it into the ground. He waiting a couple minutes, noting his hunger had got him nibbling the edge of the stick, before pulling the fish back and tearing into it with relish. It was a little undercooked, but he had eaten raw fish before with no problem; rare fish barely even registered to him.

They ate in relative silence, hoothoot calling their namesake over the dark branches of the ashen forest. Once in a while, his sensitive ears caught the metal-on-metal grinding sound of a Skarmory landing. He supposed that wasn't anything to be too worked up about; Fallabar was well known for having massive amounts of the rare steel-bird Pokemon around its rocky cliffs, and they were approaching the area.

There was a break in the silence as someone cleared their throat. Ven was mildly surprise to hear the somewhat bored tone of Ray's voice between bites, though he still didn't look at him.

"Ven." He said casually, as if it were an afterthought.

"You mentioned you used to live with a human owner…" He continued, before taking a big bite.

"So, why don't you go back there?" He finished, his mouth still full of fish.

Ven blinked, before finishing his own fish off. "Well… my owner's dead." He said after a moment's thought. "His only living relative turned down most of the will, so I don't think I'd be transferred to anyone. I wouldn't have a place to live, or anything to do, really. I suppose I could live with my siblings, but… I'd rather not be a burden." He said after a little while. Surprisingly, he hadn't asked the question to himself when it came to pass that Mister Stone had indeed been killed.

He sighed slightly. That life, in the mist of the human population, dealing with legal affairs, was undoubtedly over for him. He was a little grieved at that; before, he had made it his goal in life to somehow improve relations between pokemon and humans. Not in the way of a trainer and captured, but as equals. With translating technology becoming less expensive and more popular, and the growing population of psychic types, the language barriers between the species were starting to come down. Ven liked to think he tried his hardest to make the confrontations as peaceful and bloodless as mortally possible between them. Pokemon were more and more unable to stay away from humans in the forests and caves, with the expansion of cities and technology. They needed to integrate themselves somehow, but unfortunately, most humans tended to misunderstand that.

It wasn't just the human's fault, of course. More than one Pokemon has shown an irrational prejudice against humans and their ways, for a myriad of reasons. Ven, having been urban from birth, couldn't really relate, but liked to try to find happiest median possible.

He prized achievement, was of course, the Inhuman Citizens of Hoenn act. While it was often attributed to Adam Grant; a political Alakazam that was several times older and more versed in legal matters and human relations than he was; Ven himself did a fair amount of work on the bill and making it popular on both sides. Even with the best efforts from himself and Adam, the bill only passed by a hair's breadth, but it was still a pass.

The act gave Pokemon, when certain specifications were met, the same essential rights as most humans, and in return also bestowed the same responsibilities. The specifications were one point that was heavily debated, but two separate tests were eventually agreed upon; the First Test was an hour session with a government-approved Empath, who would rate the personality and social traits of the interviewed subject, and would decide whether or not they were compatible in civilized society. The second test was longer, but easier; The subject had to spend a month within a city, under the supervision of a government- approved overseer, and stay out of trouble for the duration of that month.

It wasn't particularly popular among Pokemon these days, but it was growing. In Mauville and Rustboro, especially, where Pokemon-owned and run businesses and restaurants were making fairly good business. Mauville, because of it being the capital of the Hoenn country, and Rustboro due to it being the origin of the act.

Ray nodded slightly. "I see…" After a moment, he finished his fish.

"Do you ever intend to go back?" He asked curiously.

Ven furrowed my brow at Ray, trying to decide whether he was actually lightening up or not. He guessed the time away from the Rockets and their cruel experiments, plus a lack of danger or excitement in the past week or so, finally managed to calm him a bit. The Raichu had even taken to practicing playing on some odd flute-like object, though he always glared at you if you asked what he was playing.

Ven paused. "I don't doubt I'll be back someday." He said after a moment. "Maybe to visit family. But honestly, I'm not sure I want to. With my Master dead, there's really none of my former life left there…"

"Are you sure of that?"

The entire group turned rapidly at the sound of a new voice. A light tinkle, like a bell made of crystal filled the air, and suddenly Ven was filled with the impression of something deeply startled.

The white Eevee paused upon seeing the creature. It was a very pale blue, with pinkish-red highlights on its body, but its biology was simply bizarre. It appeared to be nothing more than an odd, slightly squashed pale head with kind-looking eyes, a bright yellow sphere-like growth on the top of its head, and a long flat flap of flesh that draped down from the head, fluttering slightly in the light breeze. It seemed to be at least slightly telepathic, as it was somehow levitating several feet off the ground.

Ven relaxed when he saw the creature, and glanced back at his companions. The human appeared to do similar, and returned to his own meal without a second thought.

"It's just a Chimecho. Don't worry, they're empaths. Very nonviolent, and pretty weak physically anyway. I've never heard of one that fought."

The Chimecho twitched slightly in the air. "I wouldn't count us out completely, master Ven. We can fight well when necessary. Our species simply prefers to see others unhurt."

Ray seemed unconvinced by the intruder's apparent lack of skill. Timeria relaxed a bit, but still seemed unconvinced.

Ven was confused. "_Master _Ven? How do you know my name?" He asked warily.

The Chimecho bobbed. "You are Master because you are related to Mistress Shira, who commands my services. I was sent to find you, specifically."

Ven blinked, and paused. That was unexpected; Shira was the eldest of his siblings, and aside from himself a while ago, commanded the richest household. She was a little stuffy, but ultimately she had a good heart. He wondered why she sent a Psychic after him.

"I bear a message for you." The small psychic continued. Ven blinked, and nodded.

"There's been a murder…" the chime Pokemon said in it's usually melodic voice. This caused some dissonance with its words, but Ven recognized that sounding cheery wasn't done voluntary, it was practically the Chimecho accent.

"I know. My master was killed when he leapt from the top floor of the building." Ven sighed. Obviously Shira had sent a psychic with the news to reach him, as if he didn't know how to read newsprint.

To his shock, the Chimecho shook his head. Ven's eyebrow quirked.

"It involves your sister, Ceii." It continued.

Ven's heart sank. All of a sudden, the odd dream he had flooded back to him. The violet creature, bloodied, calling his name…

"Was it in a forest?" He questioned, to be sure. The Chimecho nodded in affirmation.

Dread clawed at him.

"Ceii… she's been…" He started. The Chimecho shook its head.

"No, you don't understand… your sister is… the defendant. She's being tried for murder."


	32. Start of Xanatos

**Act 3 – Death in the Family**

**Chapter 2**

**-**

**--**

-

Ray let the notes of the music wash him away.

The sounds dipped, they rose. They moved, they danced, spun and twirled. They plucked at emotions he had forgotten that he had. He allowed a small smile to pass his lips; this is why he survived.

Music. He had almost forgotten it. He was a musician, not a fighter.

He sat by a group of buskers as they plied their trade. The group was different from what you'd normally see on a street corner; an acoustic guitarist, a pianist, and a singer. Together they made a melancholy sound that resounded in his heart, moved him. He smiled even during the sad song, for all it reminded him of.

There wasn't any music in the Rocket Labs. Or at least none he had heard. Perhaps that's why he forgot… forgot.

Anger. Anger was the only thing he had known for the longest while… anger at his captors, anger at the human that kept him there, anger at everyone that wanted him to do what they say. Especially anger at the Rockets and what they did to him and his former master.

None of that mattered now, though. It all seemed so trivial now; he realized that in being submerged in anger and anger alone, he had done the worst possible thing. He became like the Rockets that did this to him. He lost what he really was.

He stifled a sniffle, but couldn't stop his eyes from brightening. Was the song particularly good? He couldn't tell. But like water in the desert, that fact was insignificant. The medley, the tone, the instruments… all of it combined together into something that appealed to his emotions. He knew that people thought he wasn't capable of sympathy; He himself had been one of them at some point.

He sighed, his tail tapping to the tone. The song started to die away now. His mind was clear, washed clean by the notes of the beautiful song. It was funny, he thought. He had been thirsting for music for the entire duration of his entrapment, but through the last couple months that he had been freed, he never sought any out. Maybe he thought he had become too embittered to enjoy it anymore.

He smiled, and breathed easy at the song drew to a quiet close. He felt his tail glow in admiration for the musicians; artists that reminded him of what he had been like before everything had happened to him. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be reminded before; anger was fulfillment. With a thirst for revenge, you needed nothing else. You had your goal, and anything else was superfluous.

Music was the opposite. Music cleaned your mind and soul, made it ready to be inhabited by something else. It accomplished nothing, but let you accomplish everything.

A couple of the musicians patted him on the head as they packed up and left. Ray glanced up at them in silent thanks, for once regretting the language barrier that came between the two species.

He blinked as they left, and he was once again alone, on the cobbled corner of Rustboro. He glanced around; he hadn't noticed it before, but the city was amazing.

Every building was made from roughly the same old-looking stone chunks. It didn't seem like modern brick to him; it looked too expensive and old, obviously. He recalled Ven mentioning something about it while he was showing them around his hometown earlier; Apparently, Rustboro was the longest-existing human settlement in Hoenn entirely. The buildings had been destroyed and rebuilt several times, of course, but even so they were amazingly old by standards of other towns. Excepting some of the skyscrapers, none of the buildings were less than two centuries old.

Before, he hadn't cared. Now, it filled him with a certain fascination, looking at this testament to humanity; He wasn't sure whether it was a good or bad fascination.

He thought for a few seconds. Humans. What to make of them? He growled. Some of them could rank among the evilest creatures he had ever seen. He would gladly kill the lot of them for that. They tortured him for years, deprived him of any of his needs, forced him to kill, messed with his body…

But, on the other hand, they made such BEAUTIFUL music.

He growled for a moment. Humans apparently had a vice-grip on his emotions… they could invoke them at will with their beautiful sounds, and they could take them away as easily with their astounding cruelty.

He shook his head a bit. He had to get off that track of thought.

He wandered down a street and wondered a bit more at the architecture. He had traveled a bit around Hoenn as a kit, and even with those hazy memories in mind, he couldn't find something to match the exact style here. Everything here seemed to… archaic. Nothing looked shiny and modern, and cobblestone seemed to be the material-of-choice. All the metal he saw was darkish iron instead of more useable steel, and even the street lights looked decorative.

He mentally went over the past happenings of the day. Well, a Chimecho had come, and said something about Ven's sister. Ven agreed to come back immediately and only as an afterthought asked for the rest of the team's input on that.

He grunted. Then again, none of them really had any 'team loyalty'. Narc decided to come with him when he remembered that a city was more likely to have females in it than in a random forest. He decided to go simply because he couldn't think of a reason not to.

He chuckled a little. The human they were with just threw his hands up into the air at this point, apparently slightly annoyed that they kept running off him. More than likely due to that 'lack of team loyalty' thing, and just made Tiris come with them too. If he recalled correctly, she went with Ven to that –what did they call it? Detention Center? Yeah, that's what it was.

Timeria had decided to go when she saw everyone else was. He wasn't sure where she went, he didn't pay much attention to her usually anyway. He thought she may have went with Ven too- anyone could see that she liked the Eevee. Though, he reflected, it was probably just a passing crush. He wasn't very versed in things like that, but like it or not, Narc attempted to pass off his 'knowledge' every so often. He was loath to admit he learned anything from it, but he did figure he knew a bit more about how females acted.

He vaguely wished that he had known all he did –plus cared- when he had been meeting that Pikachu. She'd been really nice to him, and she wasn't exactly unattractive either. Still, he was wary, like any good male Raichu would be. Female Pikachu and Raichu tended to have… well, saying they had volatile tempers was like saying that lava was warm.

He vaguely recalled someone mentioning that the average male chus often left the mating season with at least one broken limb, so he figured it was best not to try and see exactly HOW volatile their temperaments got.

He shook his head. He'd just gotten his liking for emotions back again, he really shouldn't be contemplating romance at a time like this. Plus, the Pikachu had left with her trainer only a couple days after the entire Mauville incident had resolved.

He continued wandering down the streets; he saw quite a few other people, but it was evident that it was the slow down period. Some shops dotted the sides of the streets, with humans entering. None of the pokemon did, which he found a little odd, considering he had found a street not too long ago with pokemon entering the shops in at least as much frequency as the humans did.

He blinked as he felt someone tap his shoulder, and tilted his neck in order to observe a pair of lithe, thin white legs. He blinked and looked upward to behold an odd, humanoid creature. Its upper body was green, with what appeared to be a red triangle poking through its abdomen, and arms with blade edged, sharpened to a razor point.

He blinked at the startlingly deep blue eyes possessed by the creature, that blinked twice when he noticed they were being looked at. Ray froze in place, as if he were hypnotized, for a couple seconds before he regained control of his senses.

"Yes?" He asked pleasantly, tail twitching. He was still in a good mood, odd as it sounded. The creature that interrupted him seemed kind enough.

The gangly creature gave him a slightly rueful grin, and chuckled. Ray paused and tilted his head in confusion. The blue eyes opened again, and looked him up and down. Ray shifted from paw to paw as he felt he was being weighed, but blinked when the creature 'hmmed' in satisfaction.

"Can I help you?" The electric mouse repeated, a little more forcefully this time.

The creature chuckled. "And he has a little fire in him too! How perfect." He chuckled slightly, then extended his human-like hand downward.

"Name's Alistair. Pleased to meet you."

Ray blinked, and nodded, shaking the hand with his paw. "Ray. Likewise." He responded, still sounding confused. "I'm sorry, you still haven't answered my question. Did you want something?"

"Actually, yes." Alistair responded, chuckling a little quietly.

"See, I have a little job I'd like to do, but it's a bit larger than the ones I usually have. Normally I'd have an assistant to help me in this case, but wouldn't you know it, they're all busy. I wondered if you'd like to help me in an investigation."

Ray's ear twitched. "Investigation?" He said, slightly intrigued. "You're with the police?"

"Technically." Alistair responded. "But not quite in that way. I'm not your common detective, you see." He chuckled, then cracked his knuckles. Ray winced, then blinked as he noticed the creature's hands were a lot thinner and longer than a human's.

Ray paused. "Why me?" He asked, now out of curiosity than anything else.

Alistair shrugged. "No reason. You're small, look strong, and didn't seem to have anything to do from how you were wandering. I figured you'd make a decent assistant." He said, with a friendly smile.

Ray paused, then shrugged. It was true, he didn't have anything to do since the buskers left. He supposed he could volunteer some of his time; After all, he did technically owe the police force for releasing him.

"Alright. What do I do?" He asked, ears pricking up again. Alistair chuckled pleasantly. Ray wasn't sure why, but his chuckles didn't seem annoying or condescending like they would from anyone else. Come to think of it, he couldn't really think up any negative thoughts about Alistair at the moment. He guessed that he must be an empathetic species of some sort; Tiris once mentioned that Empaths generally radiated peacefulness as a kind of defense mechanism.

The green and white creature smiled. "Well, just follow me. You'll see soon enough." He continued, before walking down the cobblestone street. Ray paused only briefly before following the strange psychic creature. Normally, he would've been suspicious of an odd creature asking him to help, then leading him off to an undisclosed area, but the combination of the music still stuck in his head and the aura of tranquility combined made him much less suspicious.

Besides, he did need something to do.

- - -

"Nothing… you remember… nothing?"

The albino sighed, and covered his face in his paws for a couple seconds as he tried to imagine this in his mind. From behind the protective glass, the violet feline wasn't doing much better.

"A-absolutely…" She managed to choke out, eyes still glittering and teary. The espeon did not look healthy; Half her fur was discolored and thin, as if it was being shredded, and the rest was scraggly and unkept. It wasn't helped by the large black object tied securely around her neck, like a color made of stone, and her periodic wincing as if she was in constant pain.

Tiris quietly stood in the corner and writ a quick note to herself.

'_Subject lacks memory of day of incident.' _she writ beneath '_Subject found unconscious within forest within the proximity of victim. Cannot explain reason for location.' _

Tiris was a psychologist more than a murder investigator, but she supposed she could be both. Besides, it was a valuable experience to witness it; the accused psychic type nearly died herself out of fret when she learned she was being tried for murder. Capital Punishment was still in full effect in Hoenn for murderers, especially for Pokemon Citizens.

She bit the end of her pen. It hadn't gotten any better when the investigators had learned of the victim's 'disabilities', and that had resulted in the painful-looking black collar she was wearing. If Tiris remembered her technologies correctly, it was an outdated Grade Double-A Psychic Dampener; an invention intended to create a field from which psychic waves could not penetrate.

From what Tiris understood, Ceii suffered from a rather rare ailment of Psychic pokemon- Acquired Telepathic Mindset Deficiency Syndrome, or ATMDS. The reason it was so rare, was that the biological defect only showed up in pokemon that AQUIRED a psychic typing through evolution, but were not naturally born that way; Espeon were the prime examples of course, as their volatile DNA while Eevee could result in all sorts of weird mutations.

Even so, only about five documented cases of ATMDS existed in the textbooks that the syndrome was even mentioned in, and Ceii was not only one of them, but the most severe example. She lacked almost complete control over any Advanced Telepathic control, barely managing to blow a paper cup off a table when she focused on it, yet able to blow the heads off an entire room of people subconsciously if she wasn't careful.

Apparently, the condition was caused by a defective gene in the 'prospective' DNA of an Eeevee- the DNA that contains the information they need to evolve, that replaces their current DNA. When she evolved, the portion of her brain that allows her to create telepathic waves was formed without problem, however the portion that allows her to contain and control those waves formed several sizes too small; Effectively making Ceii unable to control her own power. Unless she allowed it to radiate outward, it would build within her, causing her progressively bad headaches until she eventually died of the stress, or had a brain aneurism. Of course, allowing it to radiate outward made the shape of the power impossible to control; Often, according to her emotions, they just took random forms and shapes. Much of the time, they manifested in a way that wouldn't be considered a usual psychic ability.

And then there was the fact that there's at least one documented case of ATMDS causing irrational behavior, blackouts, and memory loss. All of which fit what seemed to happen to a 't'.

Ven cleared his throat. Tiris blinked, and readied her pad.

"What about the victim? What was the name… Iris, right? Did you know her?" He asked fairly desperately. He loved his sister, but Tiris could see he was grasping for straws that a case could be built on.

The Espeon shook her head sadly, eyes still glinting. She sniffled loudly. "N-no…I m-mean, I may have saw her, l-like one or twice. I t-think I spoke to h-her at a party once…" She sniffled loudly again.

Tiris flipped back momentarily to the Victim data to add that tidbit. Apparently, the victim was an Iris, of the Reid family. She was an Espeon about half a year Ceii's younger, and very pretty from what she had heard. Interestingly, while Iris didn't have ATMDS, it wasn't a secret she wasn't the most skilled with telepathy either.

Tiris blinked, wondering if someone might have mistaken Ceii for Iris. It certainly seemed possible, in a dark forest with two different Espeon. Or maybe it was the other way around, and Ceii had simply been spared when they realized she wasn't the one they were looking for…

Purely hypothetical, of course. Tiris was helping Ven, who intended to be the Defense in Ceii's case, which pretty much meant that the Kadabra and Eevee had to think of ways other than the obvious of what happened. The main question was who 'they' was. If Ceii hadn't killed Iris, who did, why, and how?

Tiris shook her head as she looked over the autopsy report. Iris Reid, died of blood loss from several gashes across the right side of her body… killing blow was a slice to the side of her throat, however it seemed that the murderer continued to attack even after her death, for whatever reason.

That could imply two things, Tiris reflected. Either the crime was a crime of Passion- someone had something personal against this Espeon- Or the killer simply didn't know she was dead yet. Unfortunately, if Ceii really had been sent into a random murder spree by her disorder, she could easily have fit the second.

"…Ven…" The Espeon from behind the glass meowed. Ven blinked at her, and nodded hopefully. The female glanced down out of embarrassment. "Ven… this collar… it hurts." She said, with a hint of a whimper in the back of her throat. Her tail twitched a little.

Ven shook his head uneasily. "Sorry." He muttered. "The higher ups think you're a danger without it. I tried telling them it was a matter of your health, but they wouldn't listen." He said with a bitter edge to his words. Ceii sighed and nodded a little.

"Visiting hours are over. Come on." Came a gruff voice. The kadabra glanced up to see a human guard sitting in a corner, a small club dangling from his wrist. Pokemon inmates were incredibly rare; Pokemon committing crimes that were not citizens were sent to correction facilities. Pokemon who did commit crimes that were citizens often ran away afterwards; it usually wasn't hard to make a getaway and live in the wild, were you a pokemon.

The Espeon gave a small whimper, pressed her head against the glass for a second, then hopped off the stool she was on shakily. She landed off-balance and tripped for a moment. The guard grunted for a second as he waited for her to get up, then followed behind her as she walked back towards her cell in Solitary Confinement.

Ven sighed, fixed the fur on his head, and turned to look at Tiris. "What do you think?" He asked the Kadabra. She figured he wasn't talking about his groom job.

"My experience in law is limited." Tiris warned. "But I somehow doubt this case will be easy to even get an indecisive verdict. If I recall, the Pokemon Courts don't use a jury system, do they?"

Ven shook his head. "No, there isn't enough citizens for that. The judge makes the final verdict."

He sighed and looked at his paws. Moments later, he glanced upward, his face hard. "Still, I'll win it." He said nonchalantly.

"Oh? Why do you say so?" Tiris asked, blinking.

"Because that's Ceii. She wouldn't hurt a fly, trust me." He chuckled slightly. "And she's been through enough crap. She doesn't need this too."

"Do you really believe she's innocent?" Tiris asked.

Ven nodded. "I do. Course, I suppose we'll have to find the real killer."

Tiris pursed her lips, and nodded. "To the crime scene, then?"

"To the crime scene."


	33. Changes by Xanatos

**Act 3 – Death in the Family**

**Chapter 3**

**-**

**--**

-

"Morning bro." the Jolteon said nonchalantly, stretching backward and allowing his quills to flare out.

Ven backed away and hissed at the electric pokemon, fur bristling on end. "Orin…" he said threateningly, his blue eyes glaring at the creature as if he were about to attack at any moment. Orin chuckled at him and brushed him off, glancing around.

"So, this is where it happened?" he asked curiously. Ven blinked.

"Hey, what the hell? You can't just do that!" Ven spat at him. "This is a closed crime scene! It's crawling with police! How the hell can a Rocket pokemon just WALK IN!" he said, punctuating his sentence with a growl. The electric eon just laughed at him again.

"Wasn't hard. Just said I was one of the defendant's aids. And brother." He added.

Ven's tail lashed, though he relaxed slightly, still watching Orin suspiciously. "Why the hell are you here?" he said, half begrudgingly and half curious. Orin just smiled. Ven frowned at him in return. "I didn't think you'd show your face around here again, after you know, selling me out."

Orin shrugged. "Don't care. I had good reason."

Ven's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Oh yeah? What reason was that?" Orin gave a ghost of a smile.

"Well, if you have to know, 'betraying you' was my distraction. Getting that fatass a new toy was the easiest way to smuggle Ceila out of there. I simply didn't care that I was putting you in, in exchange."

Ven hissed a little, then blinked. "Wait…wait wait wait. Ceila?" he said skeptically. "Orin, are you… you know… sane?" he said after a couple seconds.

Orin chuckled a little more. "I know, I didn't believe it at first either. But it was her, unmistakably."

Ven raised an eyebrow. "I… really don't know why you would think our dead sister happened to be captured by rockets, but I'm even less sure why you would think I would believe you even more."

Tiris blinked as she writ down notes. The odd Jolteon was apparently a sibling of Ven, which was interesting. She had heard him mention his five siblings before, and from what she understood, Ceila had died several years ago in a massive boating incident. Even so, she couldn't feel Orin lying, so she doubted the electric type was trying to play a practical joke on his younger brother, though she couldn't eliminate the possibility either. From what she understood, neither brother was particularly fond of the other.

Neither was most of the family, actually, for various reasons. From what Ven had told her, Orin had been the fraternal twin born at the same time as identical twins, Ceii and Ceila. However, unlike the others that had been eventually adopted by human families, Orin had escaped and found home in the dark criminal underbelly of Hoenn. Ven had apparently met up with him several months ago, during the second Rocket Base bust they had done as a group, and had, as a direct result in placing trust in his brother, had been betrayed. Though she wasn't sure, he had a feeling Orin still resented his baby brother for grabbing all the attention when they were kits.

Orin chuckled a little, then suddenly sobered, looking at Ven seriously. "Look, Ven, I know you don't like me."

Ven snorted and nodded a little.

Orin continued. "…but at the moment, I don't care about petty grudges and the like-"

"You can hardly call betrayal 'petty'! Whatever that Makuhita was going to do to me, it wasn't going to be pleasant. AND I had to kill him myself." He said with a slight sniff.

Orin rolled his eyes. "I apologize for making you do your own dirty work and track filth on that alabaster coat of yours. ANYWAY-" he said, cutting off another one of Ven's interruptions. "I didn't come here to get yelled at. I came to help."

"Help?" Ven said with a skeptical raise of his eyebrow.

Orin nodded in response. "Ceii's my sister too. I don't believe she's any more capable of coldblood murder than you do, and even if she was, I'd still try to get her off the hook. So, anything I can do to help you clear her name, I'll do."

Ven paused, then cocked his head, as if examining Orin to see a shred of integrity. Orin blinked at his scrutiny, and smiled a bit. Tiris blinked when she caught what appeared to be a hint of a blush on the Jolteon's face.

"Come now, you're embarrassing me. I know it's hard to look away, but you really have better things to do than gawk at my amazing figure." Orin said with a faux shy flourish. Ven blinked, and hastily broke eye contact. He muttered.

"Fine, I guess I can trust you to look around for anything we can use in the case. Tiris, could you keep an eye on him for me, please?" the eevee said, glancing back at Tiris, who paused.

'_Of course.' _She responded telepathically. _'but could you not look after him yourself? Do you have a previous engagement?'_ she asked curiously. She blinked again when he nodded, the unasked question being plain to see.

"Shira told me to come by when I arrived. She has things to talk to me about, apparently. I figure it's worth a go if it might help me with Ceii's case. I'll be back in a couple hours at most." He said with a curt nod. Tiris nodded again, and turned to watch Orin as Ven himself turned to walk on the roads.

Orin watched his brother walk away, his gaze lingering for a bit longer than necessary at the smaller eon's fluffy tail, before finally turning to Tiris.

"So." He said simply. Tiris nodded back.

"Are you his mate or something?"

Tiris blinked. _'You think your brother would take a Kadabra for a mate?' _

Orin shrugged. "It's possible. He's always been a weird one. Really weird romantic tastes."

'_I was under the impression you haven't really known him since he was a kit.'_

Orin waved a paw. "And? What does that have to do with anything? I hear things, from Ceii and sometimes from Shira dnt he like."

'_From what I've heard, Ven's rejected all romantic advances to this date.'_

The jolteon blinked and shrugged. "Eh. That doesn't mean anything."

'_And for another thing, you seem to pay his body more attention than one would expect of a sibling. To the point where I'm sure many would consider it improper.'_

Orin shrugged again and didn't comment. "Anyway… I guess I'm supposed to be looking for these clue thingamajigs?"

The Kadabra nodded in response. _'Indeed. Things that point towards Ceii not being the murderer would be our target.' _

"And what have we found so far?"

'_Dried blood was found beneath a log found only about fifteen yards from the victim's corpse. Forensics haven't had time to match the blood, but they're fairly convinced that it belongs to the victim, who seemed to have broken a leg on the log before crawling to her final position. A variety of slashed-up tree branches and displaced foliage was found in a path leading from the victim's body to Ceii's current position, which suggests that if she did lose control of her abilities, that they continued in that fashion until she fainted.'_

"Not much to go on, is there?"

'_That is not it. According to the autopsy, the cuts in the victim were not made by claws, meaning the only possible method that was used to attack her was either a bladed weapon like a sword, wind-based abilities such as Air Cutter, or a specialized telepathic attack.'_

Orin looked like he had sucked on a lemon. "Ceii… has been known to create air effects when she's pissed enough that her abilities get the best of her. Sometimes they can cause cuts…"

The kadabra nodded in response. _'The rain washed away all footprints, so it was impossible to see if they could be tracked that way. However, variations in the foliage suggest the Victim entered the forest first, followed by Ceii, who met up with the victim before causing destruction to the trees in a blade-like manner, before finally settling at her current position. Ceii was also found covered in blood, though not with any visible wounds. She did, however, have a limp in her back left leg for several hours upon waking, according to police reports.'_

Orin nodded hesitantly. "…So… our case is pretty much screwed?"

'_That would be one manner of verbalizing it, yes.'_

"Ah… hm. Well, were there any witnesses?"

'_The police are not releasing an official statement on that, but from what I picked up from the ones who didn't bother to shield their mind, there was one witness that the Prosecution is intended to use as an Ace Card in the trial. They're currently in questioning.' _

Orin nodded hesitantly again, stood up, and stretched. "Well, come on. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

'_Cover in what?'_

"Making this case viable, of course. As I always say, if the facts don't match your perception of reality, press them till they do. So, we have a lot of pressing to do."

'_You are an odd Jolteon..'_

- - -

Shira's pale blue orbs bored into Ven's icy blue eyes, causing him to glance away for a second, feeling almost like a kit for a moment again. Shira's presence was always imposing, and she was one of the few siblings Ven had been with almost his entire life. She had been his teacher in culture, in life and in practical teachings of the species that his master had either been ignorant or neglected to teach Ven of.

"Ven." She said softly, with a nod. Ven hastily complied. While he had technically been of higher standing that her, lived in a much larger home and belonged to a more important human than Shira, she always had this way to make him seem like he was a silly little kit trying to be a Clan Alpha. He doubted it was intentional; at worst, she acted motherly, usually treating him like an equal in life and standing.

Generally, they got along well. There was only one subject they ever disagreed on.

"You must take a mate." She said bluntly. Ven flinched; the first thing he expected to hear from his sister after being gone so long was definitely not that.

"Why?" he said, practically whining.

"Because…" Shira said, almost gritting her teeth. "As of two months, three days and six hours ago, you are now the richest inhuman creature on the planet known to civilized society."

Ven paused, ears twitching. As his mind slowly comprehended that, they slowly lowered behind his head. He emitted a slight whimper. "Could… you repeat that?"

The firetype nodded a little, closing her eyes briefly. "You, Ven Stone by law, are now the most materialistically wealthy pokemon entrepreneur in existence. Even by human standards, you are among the world's most wealthy, ranking well into the Billions. You have enough to fund a small country for several years, provided reliable investments."

Ven blinked once more, managing to mouth a word. "Ah… how?"

Shira nodded once more. "Your master, the now deceased Miles Stone, left every object of which he possessed to his son, Stephen Stone, but allowed him the choice of what he wished to take, and what he did not. Whatever Stephen decided not to claim, would be transferred to the second name provided in the will- that would be yourself."

The albino blinked a little. "Ah… and I'm to assume then, that…"

The flarteon nodded, and stretched out along on the expensive-looking leather couch below her. "Stephen had no mind to take anything except a single cabinet from his father's personal chambers, and what was contained within. Inventory wasn't taken, but its assumed that it contained Miles personal rare stone collection." She said in the same neutral voice as everything else. Shira was well practiced in the proper way to address someone, and had long ago learned how to properly enunciate her sentences articulately, without much personal bias evident in her way of speaking.

Ven paused again, absorbing this information.

"…So…I inherited… everything?"

"Indeed."

"_Everything, _everything?"

"Every business, piece of currency, piece of property, contract bond, everything."

"And I've been GONE for how long? How are the businesses holding up? Why wasn't I told earlier!" Ven said exasperated. He had accustomed to this quite quickly, though he was still rather shocked. He didn't know his mater held him in such high regard that he placed him behind only his own son in his will.

Then again, maybe it made a little bit of sense… Miles had always wanted a son that was well, like him. One that he could groom into a business and law tycoon like himself, a big player in world politics. His biological son was rather intelligent, but had no patience for politics or business, instead preferring to spend his time outside in pokemon habits, researching both pokemon sociology in the field and geology of the Hoenn region.

Did he always expect Ven to be his successor? Ven wasn't entirely sure… though now that he thought about it, he always heard Miles claim that every great leader needed a shtick. Something that differentiated them from the general population, something that made them stand out. Regular people often struggled with that, and often didn't get anywhere. But, as he had always said, Ven never had to worry about that. His white fur got him attention whether he wanted it or not.

"So… why does this mean I need a mate?" Ven asked, trying to get his mind off his master. He never realized his relationship was so complex with the human until now… he wasn't even sure what to think about that.

"Because, that makes you the single most eligible bachelor in the entire city, if not country." Shira said passively. "You were a great catch before, as I'm sure you can recall vividly."

Ven nodded a little subconsciously. He did indeed recall all the many, many attempts at his heart… the females trying to seduce him had been endless. Some had been more successful than others, but they ultimately failed at their ultimate goal.

Indeed, the only one that Ven even considered taking for a mate was…

Ven swallowed a bit as he felt a physical pang at his heart. "Yeah, and your point is…"

Shira sighed a little. "You need to help your sister. How will you be able to do that if you are being constantly bugged by suitors? This isn't riff-raff off the street coming up to you. These are well bred, often powerful members of the upper class that could hurt our case or cause us no end of trouble if you insult by brushing them off. You need a mate to act as a scapegoat, I'm sorry to say; someone that you'll be able to use as an excuse for denying their affections. It would be a less bitter pill for them to swallow if they rationalized they were being turned away due to you already being taken, rather than because they think you didn't think they were good enough." She said, cocking her head to the side almost apologetically.

"I know how you feel about mates you don't love…" she said gently. "But… I'm sure you realize it's for the greater good?"

Ven paused as he processed this information. "I… see." He said numbly. "Could you explain the danger again? I'm not sure I got it the first time?"

Shira sighed again. "This issue with Ceii… is probably not going to be solved soon, or with ease. Even if, by a miracle, we manage to get an innocent verdict… she could still be caught up in political red string if someone high up decides to spite you. We don't want to run that risk… it's high profile enough, and we'll have a difficult enough time dealing with this as it is. It's only by sheer luck that they haven't heard that you are back in town, that you aren't being accosted now… I recommend you find someone to claim as your lover before they do figure it out." She said peacefully, trying to smile a little.

Ven nodded a little to himself. "I… see, I guess. Who would you recommend?" he asked, glancing up at her hopefully. This seemed like an entirely lose-lose situation at the moment, but if anyone could help him, it would be his older sister Shira. Shira paused.

"It would be more effective if your mate was high-profile; hopefully, they would be disappointed, but approve, and see the logic behind your action. However… that may be unwise, as I somehow doubt the smokescreen you mate is one you want forever… and it is doubtful we could find someone who would not mind you leaving them only about a month later." She said thoughtfully.

"A member of the common population may be less effective, at least to those whose egos lead them to think them superior to such females. But, it would be better than nothing, and I'm sure you could find a female willing to play-act as your mate until such a time that you no longer require such attention that fills those requirements." She said with a nod.

Ven paused and his ear twitched. Shira sighed.

"Ven, this isn't something we have to wait on. You have much to do in this day alone. I'd find a mate, and quickly- as in, within the next couple hours. Indeed, I'd tell you to leave right now and not risk someone in a high position notice your return… but, there is still one thing I want to show you."

She paused. Ven's ear twitched, and chuckled a little. "Shira, you've already told me I'm one of the most powerful beings in existence and apparently about to be mobbed by females. I doubt whatever else you have to show me would make much of an impact."

"Hey, Ven…" said a timid voice from the other part of the room.

Ven spun around, and blinked. His mouth hung open a little as his pupils dilated. He was seeing a ghost.

Standing there, slightly awkwardly but still with an air of grace, was unmistakably, his 'dead' sister Ceila.


	34. Christmas Special

**Act 0 – Specials**

**Chapter 1**

**-**

**--**

-

"Get up." The dark creature commanded.

There was a brief struggle as the smaller, birdlike creature roused herself from the ground. She blearily stared at the grass, a vibrant green though stained occasionally with flecks of her own blood. Red and green. She smiled slightly to herself at the combination of colors, sick as it may be.

She called out in pain and fight moments later, as a dark object impacted with her feathery chest and sent her flying into a nearby tree, cracking her head against the solid bark of the trunk. She twitched a little, tears creeping into her eyes again as she fought off unconsciousness, but quickly settled herself down moments later, standing up on wobbly legs.

Her attacker, a dark-furred umbreon growled at her and took a threatening step forward.

"Why do you ALWAYS get up?" he said with venom in his voice. "Do you WANT me to kill you? Get the hell out of here!" he called, baring his impressive fangs and glaring at her threateningly.

The bird paused, but continued to stare intently at him, as if in battle. Even so, she didn't make a threatening move toward him, simply panting a little with the exhaustion it took to keep standing. She noticed subconsciously from her scrambled brain that she had lost a lot of blood, and subconsciously reached beside her shoulder in order to remove a berry from her sack, only to wonder moments later why the thing wasn't there anymore.

She sighed, but determined to make it through, continued staring at the black creature before her. The umbreon bared his fangs again.

"What the hell do you WANT? Revenge? Do you want to get back at me for killing your friend? Well if you do, here I am! Do what you will, I DON'T CARE!" he practically yelled, his fur standing up on edge.

The bird nodded to herself, took a couple shaky steps forward, then once she had fixed her balance, continued to walk forward, step after step. The Umbreon twitched his nose a little bit as she approached, but didn't do anything in particular, even offering his neck as if to goad her into doing something.

She did do something.

The dark eon recoiled like he had been stung when he realized the bird was hugging him, backing off and hissing even as she laid face-down against the grass. He hissed again at her as she got up, rubbing the small wound he had added to the rest to get away.

"What is your PROBLEM?" he demanded, fur bristling once more. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

The bird paused, and shook herself. She glanced down at her red feathers, which seemed in order, even if she couldn't tell the difference between what was stained blood and what was simple red plumage. She sighed and glanced at him.

"I…think I'm Irene…" she said in a gentle, if exhausted tone.

"And why the hell should I care? Why the hell are you following me?" the Umbreon spat back.

Irene shook her snowy-white head. "W-what's… your name?" she asked, struggling with her words now due to the slight black spots around the edges of her vision.

The umbreon snorted. "And? What does it matter? You're half-dead, bird."

"Just… please?"

"Fine. I'm Jet." He snorted again. "Nice to meet you, _Irene._" He said, putting as much mocking as he could into the last two syllables.

The bird smiled a little bit.

Jet snarled, his normally white eyes dying themselves red from the strain on the veins within them. He spat a globule of dark ghostly energy that crackled as it lashed across the bird's body, sending them flying backward again.

The bird gave a squawk that sounded more as a squeak as she was lashed painfully around the midriff, being tossed backward from the spot of grass they were on. Jet raised his eyebrow at the blood at resulted from the attack and the look of the bird after being hit; if she hadn't been fatally wounded before, she did now.

He should just walk back, he reasoned. Get out of here before she died and the stupid curse placed on him by the damned phantom made him have to carry her soul all the way back home, like he'd have to do with her friend anyway. He really should get out of here and minimize his work.

Without even knowing why, he walked over to the dying bird's side, sitting down with his paws infront of his body. He examined her body as she racked the air for her last few breaths, noticing how the last shot he fired had broken at least six ribs. His previous brutality to her, to try and get her to leave, had already broken at least three. She couldn't have much of a ribcage left after all of that, so there was a good chance her lungs or heart were punctured. Maybe both. Both of those were almost an immediate death sentence while somewhere without a surgical facility, he knew from experience; even techniques like Recover and Wish couldn't fix internal injuries that severe.

"…J-jet…" he heard her whisper wispily, as if she didn't have many words to spare now.

Jet raised his eyebrow and placed his foreleg on the other side of her body, so he could get a closer look at her. Her face was blank until he came into her vision, in which she immediately brightened.

This infuriated him. His fur stood up on edge, and he growled as his eyes undoubtedly reddened again.

"What do you have to be happy about?" he snarled. "Why are you smiling? What the hell could you have to smile about? I KILLED your friend! He's DEAD now! And so will YOU, in a couple seconds! Do you understand that, bird? In a few seconds, you will be DEAD! GONE!"

Irene continued to smile and shook her head. "I…t-thought…" she said, before she paused to take in another racking breath. Jet calmed down slightly to glance at her, evidently curious why she had kept following him, taking his attacks, allowing herself to die due to her frail body.

She smiled a little larger evidently at the memory. "I t-thought… you s-seemed…lonely."

Jet blinked, taken aback, apparently not expecting that answer. "Lonely?" he scoffed. "Why would I care? Like I keep telling you, I KILLED your FRIEND! You should hate me! You should want me to be lonely!"

The bird merely shook her head, still smiling.

"It's…Christmas…" she choked out. "Nobody should be…l-lonely. And you looked…s-so…s-so…lonely…" she said before exhaling.

"LONELY! I AM NOT LONELY!" Jet screamed, fur bristling once more.

"I'M NOT LONELY! DON'T PITY ME!" he paced around in an angry circle, his fur bristling. He released a shadowball towards a nearby tree, vaporizing it almost completely.

"See? Do you SEE what I can do?" He growled. "I'm stronger than you! Stronger than you could ever imagine! I don't die! Unlike you! Why would I care if I was lonely? I don't need anyone else! I have myself, myself forever!" he growled.

"Being lonely is for people that depend on other people. I don't. I'm not lonely."

Jet growled, then immediately pounced on the female. "Look! Look how I'm not lonely! ANGER! Not lonely!" he growled into her face, taking a few minutes before he realized he was looking into the visage of a dead Delibird, her smile permanently engraved on her still face.

He scoffed, growled, and turned, hitting the body with his back leg as he continued to move. Take the soul? Not likely. He'd leave her here, forever. That would teach her to think he was lonely. Him, lonely? Leave her here for a few hundred years, nobody to talk to, nobody to care for her… she'd know what it truly means to be lonely.

He stalked off into the woods, bristling with anger. How dare she… how dare ANYONE… ever consider him…

Lonely.

He slowed his pace as he sighed, his anger dying eventually as he kept walking. He didn't care. Of course he didn't. He was an agent of Fenrir; and not just that, he was their 'Monster'. The brought him up to have no feelings, to care about nothing. He was made to be bitter, cynical, an unlovable living creature to due their dirty work that would be absolutely 'unthinkable' of a ghost to actually do.

"I'M NOT LONELY!" he cried out to the bare branches of the trees in the forest, causing them to sway slightly at his loud call.

-

"_Nagi-chan?" a smaller creature asked an ethereal, violet-pigmented shade. _

"_What's all this?" he said curiously, batting at a glass snowflake ornament with his furry brown paws. He cocked his head at it, trying to decide if it was something that could be eaten, or something that might kill him._

_Nagimi, a brightly-colored ghost donning a long red santa-hat instead of her regular witche's brim, with a leaf of holly in place of her usual feather in her cap, giggled girlishly. "Oh! Jet-kun!" she said with a giggle. Others might have found the random Japanese honorific strange, but any who may have overheard them already knew of Nagimi's interesting habit of teaching young kits to address her with the proper suffix. Most thought she did it simply because it was cute._

"_It's Christmas of course! Don't you know about Christmas?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm sure Ryull must have told you…"_

_Jet blinked, and shook his head, eyes widening as he shook his fluffy tail. He always liked it when Nagimi taught him things that Ryull didn't. She was a lot nicer, and though she sometimes embarrassed him, unlike Ryull, she could tell she didn't want him to be afraid of her. He was a lot more relaxed around her than any other ghost, at any rate._

_Nagimi covered her mouth with one of her hands in shock. "Really? You mean Ryull was enough of a Scrooge that he didn't want to teach you about Christmas?" She smiled, and pirouetted in mid-air. _

"_It's the best time of the year! It's cold out, but there are lights everywhere! In every color, especially red and green! And people wear all sorts of decorations and give things to eachother! There are decorations everywhere, and it's really romantic…"_

_she giggled and shifted slightly when she did that. Jet blinked but didn't comment, adding cryptically. "I've never seen anything like that around here…" he muttered. Nagimi giggled. "Well, I guess Ryull doesn't always like to celebrate human holidays like Christmas. Besides, he's a busy ghost-"_

"_He is?" Jet cut in, looking confused. "Because he hardly teaches me anything, and then he follows me around making fun of me or poking me with sticks, and-"_

_Nagimi shook her hand. "Let's not get into that for now." She said with a giggle._

"_Well, if we can't see Christmas here, I guess we'll have to go out…" she said with a mischievous glint in her eye._

"_Outside where?" Jet said with a bit of confusion._

"_Outside Fenrir of course, Silly!" she said with a giggle. _

_Jet blinked as his jaw dropped open. "R-really? You mean it? You'll bring me outside!" he said, giggling happily as he hopped up and down, bushy tail wagging intently. "Thank you Miss Nagi-Chan!" he said with a smile, practically purring at the thought of it._

_Nagimi giggled. "Calm down, calm down! Okay, we can't go for too long, okay? Just long enough for you to get a proper idea of what Christmas is like…" she said with a smirk._

"_Okay! Whenever you're ready, Nagi-chan!" Jet said with a smile, closing his eyes and pricking up his ears. Nagimi phased in nearby him, placing a claw on one of his shoulders and whispering in his ear. _

"_Okay Jet-Kun… we're here." She said in a whisper, before vanishing. Jet blinked, opened his eyes in excitement, and gasped. _

"_T-there are so many… people!" he said brightly, as a light voice giggled next to him. He blinked up at a Mawile that held many of Nagimi's features, especially a santa hat donned on her backmaw and piece of holly held behind her ear._

"_Yeah." She said fondly. "It's really kinda amazing."_

_The scene they were looking at was none other than Mauville at any given shopping evening- the City of Lights really showing its namesake, as strings of red and green light were drawn across poles and streetlights, even along the sidewalks, making a canopy of lights that led up to a boulevard, where one of the largest pinetrees Jet had ever seen in his life stood in the center, impregnated with so many lights it nearly seemed on fire._

"_Wow…" he said, tail wagging, at both the lights and the people around them. He jumped around a little, scissoring through the legs of so many humans, so many unfamiliar scents and sights that it was almost overwhelming. He giggled at the strange bipedal creatures and their colorful pelts, ranging from black to brown to bright green… he even giggled at the variety of other pokemon around them. _

"_Just like me!" he whispered to himself, noticing a Zigzagoon pass, and watching it for a little. He had never seen a nonghost like that- one that wasn't a human, except for Nagimi when she changed shapes. He had never seen a REAL creature like him…_

_Smiling and wagging his tail, he ran up to the big tree, wowing once more at the strange alien sight of such a massive, cheery thing._

_While his tail was wagging and he was looking on in such awe, a creature krept up on him, pulling a red and white cap over his head and eyes. At first he barked in confusion and ran in a circle for a couple seconds, before pulling it over and giggling as he saw his assailant; a bird-like creature with red chest plumage and white, icy feathers around the neck and head. _

"_Merry Christmas, little guy!" the small, cheery Delibird said to him before walking off to greet someone else. Jet called back to him; "You too!" before glancing back at Nagimi, who was giggling._

"_Jet-kun, come over here. I need to teach you about Gifts, and Mistletoe, and Holly and Christmas trees and…"_

_-_

Irene blinked down at her paws, glancing around herself. There was plenty of blood, and yet…

She rubbed her body slightly, and glanced at her paws again. Blood, yes, but she didn't find any wounds…

"How…am I alive?" she questioned, before glancing over at the dark shape over in the corner.

"Jet…" she said quietly. The Umbreon blinked and glanced over his shoulder. He watched her nonchalantly for a moment, then nodded. "So. You're up." He said in a casual tone, before turning around.

The Delibird nodded, and glanced at herself. "And… alive… how did I…" she said questionally at him. Jet glanced away aversively. "I have… abilities." He said after a few seconds, before growling half-heartedly. "Don't question any further or you're going to be dead again."

Irene giggled slightly, already back to her spirits, as she got up and sat next to him again. "But why did you…" she asked, cocking her head as if he were a puzzle she had to figure out.

He glanced away for a little. "Well…" he muttered. "Maybe, I figured… I was, maybe, a little, you know, lonely. Just a little. And if I didn't bring you back, then it would have been more work for me." He said, glancing away.

Irene giggled, and traced a circle in the ground. "So… does that mean you'll let me stick around?" she asked with a small smile. Jet paused and cocked his head, as if he were considering it.

"Just… for Christmas?"

"Just for Christmas."

He paused, then nodded. "I guess.. I could let you hang around. Just for Christmas, though." He added.

Irene giggled. "Merry Christmas, Jet."

Jet paused, glanced away, and sighed, smiling as he looked at the small white crests of the pine trees near him.

"Merry Christmas, Irene."


	35. Xanatos Meetings

**Act 3 – Death in the Family**

**Chapter 4**

**-**

**--**

-

Their reunion had been a strange one.

Ven hadn't ever been incredibly close to any of his siblings.

Shira was rather independent, and honestly difficult to establish any sort of emotional rapport with, so their relationship was rather strangulated at that end. While he did have a bond, of sorts, with her, he was never really fond of conversations or spending time with her. The fact she was dull as a brick might have something to do with that too; she fit into the rich life much too easily, he found. But then again, she always had the poise of a noblewoman, even his hazy memories of his short kithood before being adopted supported that; she had a way of always seeming like she was better than everyone else even if she hadn't said a word. Some might call it arrogance, but it was difficult to place considering she wasn't openly conscious of it.

Mateo, despite being his twin brother, ironically had almost nothing in common with Ven, so they hadn't really had much to do with eachother. Of course, Ven still felt obligated to visit and talk to him, but every visit was always tainted by a touch of awkwardness. Ven always got the feeling Mateo envied him a little, which always discouraged him from visiting. While Ven had a single human owner who treated him nearly like family, Mateo was passed from human to human and even city to city seemingly at random. The two actually hadn't spoken for… quite a while, Ven realized with a blink, making a mental note to find out what Mateo was doing recently.

Ceii was the healthiest medium between the two. She was always happy and upbeat, rarely sent into moments of depression… until her evolution, that is.

Ceila and Ceii had been born at the same time, and the two had grown up together inseparably. Despite belonging to different humans, they always found ways to visit and speak to eachother. Often, you couldn't tell one from the other, the only indication being that Ceila's moods were generally somewhat subtler than her sister's, which were always very obvious.

That was until Ceila's 'accident'. Her human had taken her on a boat cruise, which had ended in disaster. Though the body of the Eevee hadn't been found, neither were the bodies of half of the passangers. The wreck itself went unfound, lost to the deeper parts of the ocean. It was inconceivable that she could have survived.

When Ceii had found out, calling her heartbroken barely managed to encompass the level of depression she suffered. There was a brief point where it was worried she'd kill herself; Not through conscious action as a suicide, but by refusing to eat or drink for the longest time, while being reduced to a thinning ball of fur slowly wasting away.

Ven never found out exactly how or why she evolved, simply that it happened around that time. Strangely, she cheered up then, seemingly having come to terms with Ceila's death. Anyone with eyes could see that wasn't the case; though she didn't cry any more, you could always catch her just staring into empty space blankly. She had to focus on keeping the spring in her step, and she was latching onto anyone that gave her the time of day.

It wasn't long after that she clung to that houndoom, Ven reflected. That incident was the end of that. After being abused both physically and mentally by the underworld Alpha for her naiveté in thinking that he cared about her, she retreated into herself again. In retrospect, Ven realized that she had more or less control over her abilities around then. She was still weak, barely capable of moving a glass of water with her mind, but at least she didn't randomly blow out lightbulbs just by walking near them. Perhaps if she hadn't received that last bit of emotional trauma, she would have ended up just as mediocre in telekinesis, rather than explosively mediocre.

All of these thoughts ran through Ven's head without him really understanding any of them as he chatted with his previously 'dead' now-Vaporeon sister.

She had changed, obviously, but it was still clear she was Ceila. Her kittish fluff and fat had faded, replaced by a thin, delicate pelt that looked like it were made of satin, and well-toned lean muscles that framed a curved, agile body. Other males would undoubtedly find her very attractive, Ven noted mentally, even though it was still painfully obvious she had been given the same treatment by the Rockets that he was. None of her ribs were visible though, which was good, as he had learned from experience that it took about three months of generous living after such capture to reverse that.

Her notable physical features were all reminiscent of Ceii, but now it was easy to see where the two differed. Even if they did have the same genetic attributes, anyone comparing the two, even accounting for evolutionary differences, could tell them apart. Ceii's limbs were still rather soft from comfortable living her entire life, whereas Ceila's had the definite tautness characterized by a wild Pokemon. Her fur grew in even shorter than was usual for the average Vaporeon, hinting that wherever she had grown up probably had plenty of sunshine, and her irises were smaller and dark, evidently used to plenty of outer light. Opposingly, Ceii's fur was rather long for an Espeon (making it fairly difficult to groom properly, especially in the mornings, where it had a habit of randomly sticking up) and large, prominent irises that made her eyes seem absolutely massive.

There were other changes, but Ven was neither interested nor perceptive enough to discover what they were. The amazing part was that, despite all these things that should throw him off the scent, the albino Eevee could STILL tell that this Vaporeon was none other than his long-lost sister.

"Hi." She repeated, smiling a little as the fin of her tail twitched a little. Ven smiled a little back, even though he figured he'd collapse at any moment now.

"Hey." He said back, feeling a little akward. What do you say to a sister you thought was dead for the majority of your life?

"I… guess you're a little curious, hunh?" she said with a hint of shyness. Ven nodded a little, trying not to show exactly HOW curious he was. All previous thoughts about mates and Shira were gone in a flash.

"Well… you see… when I died in that boating accident, I… well, I didn't, but I guess that much is obvious enough already." She said with a slight mutter to herself. Ven nodded.

"Rather obvious. Were you saved by someone?"

"A Floatzel, actually. There was a small island nearby. Nowhere civilized, but a pod of Buizel lived there. They were nice enough, they let me live there seeing as I had nowhere else to go…" she added shyly, "They… were my family then."

Ven nodded, feeling a pang of sadness that a group of Buizel had replaced him and the rest of the family, but got over it quickly.

"Well, that island is kinda… not there anymore." She muttered with a hint of bittneress. "Well, the island's there, but that's about it. The Rockets got it, I'm afraid."

"I'm… sorry to hear that." Ven said honestly. He couldn't relate personally, but he knew Timeria had been through something incredibly similar, her island having been burned by Rockets too.

"Shira tells me Ceii's in trouble." Ceila said after a few seconds, causing Ven to blink and cough lightly. "Uh, yeah… well, about that…"

"She killed someone, right?" Ceila said with a note of concern. He noticed her voice cracked near the end, and could have sworn he saw the hint of tears in the back of her eyes.

Well, of course, he rationalized. She had lost so much so far, she didn't want to lose anyone else, especially not Ceii who she hadn't seen for years.

"She did NOT kill anyone, Ceila." Ven said firmly, shocking the vaporeon more with how sure of himself he sounded rather than his words.

"And I'll make sure everyone else knows that too. Even Orin's helping, Orin! There's no way we can lose. Don't worry, you'll get her back soon."

He said the last sentence tenderly, and Ceila nodded slightly, looking downward. Ven suddenly felt incredibly awkward, especially about consoling other people. He recalled his 'success' in cheering up Timeria, and immediately decided he should probably quit while he's ahead.

"Ceila, I'm really glad you're back." He said with a smile. "And I'll want to talk to you for a while, about a lot of things… but at the moment, I'm required elsewhere. I'll get Ceii out of this, I promise. Besides food and rest, the only things on my mind will be the court and the case. You can bet on that. So, I'm sorry but I have to go right now."

Ceila nodded a little, seeming a little choked up. Ven blinked a little; she seemed even more emotional than he thought. She walked up to him, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Solve… solve it quick, okay?" she said with a hint of a smile. "I… I don't want the first time for Ceii to see me again to be through a pane of protective glass, okay?"

Ven nodded, pulled away, walked a few steps back and turned to smile at Ceila. She smiled and sniffed back more tears, waving a little with her tail. Shira was silent, but she seemed to smile a little bit.

Ven nodded and walked outside, taking a deep breath after closing the door behind him with a back leg.

"Need to get back to the crime scene." He muttered, walking down the steps, past the wrought iron gate to Shira's master's residence, and onto the cobble streets of Rustboro. He paused for another deep breath, and started to walk down the streets, deep in thought.

He was so deep in thought that he nearly failed to notice when he tripped and toppled onto the cobbles themselves.

"Oof! Oh, is that you, Ven? How do you fancy bumping into me here!" he heard a perky and fairly loud voice call. He blinked when he saw a tan face appear a few inches from his, with an impish look on her face and long ears with green tips.

It took him a few seconds to recognize the female leafeon before him, and when he did, he wished he don't.

"Oh… um, hi Anna…" he managed to get out.

"Oh! You remembered my name?" she giggled girlishly, and played with something on her neck. Ven blinked when he realized it was a red bow tied to her black collar.

"I didn't know if you would. It's been so long and all…" she said airily, approaching him in a manner that was intended to seem natural, but to him, simply seemed like a violation of his personal space. Her intentions were quite clear.

Ven resisted a groan. Annabelle, or Anna, was one of his more persistent suitors, and one of his more frustrating ones. While previously he had had plenty of females throwing themselves at him, few of them had the combinations that Anna did. She was remarkably attractive as any male could attest, subtle, clever (Ven know realized that he must have tripped because Anna laid a Grass Knot for him, simply so she could talk to him without seeming intrusive), and remarkably powerful. Her master was the Member of Parliament from the Rustboro area; the way Hoenn government worked, that made him the national government's reagent to Rustboro on matters like foreign diplomacy, federal law, federal taxes, and matters of Law that pertained to the nation as a whole. The last one, unfortunately, included criminal cases of murder.

Ven didn't particularly like her. She was much too cunning for his liking, reminded him a lot of a predator playing with her catch. She was pretty, he'd grant her that, but he couldn't imagine himself as her mate. Or even in her presence for any period of time longer than about an hour.

Unfortunately, she seemed to like him. A lot. He wasn't sure if it was his looks, or his charm, or his wealth that she was always after, he just knew it was something, and he didn't like it. She was also known for her overreactions.

"Uhehe… how could I even forget you…" Ven muttered a little awkwardly. She giggled girlishly. Ven slapped himself mentally; that sounded much too close to flirting to his liking, he was trying to go for polite nonchalance.

"I was just heading to… to… over to the crime scene. I'm fairly busy…" he muttered, resisting a shudder. She had now taken to rubbing against him a little, purring as she did so. Ven couldn't stop thinking that her touch actually felt reptilian.

"Oh. Too busy for me? You've got all day to search that forest…" she said with a touch of hurt in her tone. Ven resisted a flinch; he knew that tone. That was her 'danger' tone. She hadn't seen him in months, and wasn't likely to release him any time soon. He needed to think of something, fast.

"Oh… not at all, it's just that, It's hard to pencil you in, you know…" something in his memory clicked.

"I mean, I already need to divert some of my time to my mate, you know… we just met recently, and she's been complaining that we don't spend enough time t-together." He said in what he hoped was a bashful tone. He couldn't keep the stutter out of the last word, unfortunately; he hoped she didn't read too much into that.

"Your mate?" she said partially in disbelief, partially in irritation. She stopped rubbing against him, and he mentally sighed in relief.

"You've gotten a mate in your absence?" she said in cool indifference. Ven noted she all of a sudden seemed quite cold and indignant, as if she were a queen who was offended. Luckily, her mood was directed towards his false-mate and not towards him.

Ven nodded a little bit, thinking quickly. "Uh, yeah. She told me she'd meet me by the murder scene-"

"Oh? Ven!" he heard someone yell. He winced a little, hoping nobody else saw it. A small pink creature walked up with a giggle.

"I don't think you'd remember me" –he didn't- "I'm Kiya, we met once at that benefit party…"

another, third girl walked up and began a similar conversation. Ven didn't get a good look, as others were also gathering as they all seemed to recognize him. He had the vaguest feeling of drowning, as two Pikachu sisters added themselves to the growing crowd, beating back his attempts at an explanation. A Vulpix even dared to reach across and lick his cheek; he had no idea who she was.

He glanced over at Anna almost pleadingly, who smirked and cleared her throat. "Girls, girls." She said clearly. The rest of them quieted abruptly, as if Anna was their elected official. "I don't mean to cut in, but Ven here was just telling me about his mate…"

There was a group sigh and slight grumble.

"I think it would be great if we all met her, don't you?" she said with a devious smile. "After all, didn't you say she's just waiting by the murder scene? Well, you've got work to do, and it would be just plain rude to make her wait without anyone to talk to during that…"

She smirked. "In fact, Ven, you can take all the time with these ones that you want. I'm going to go ahead and see if I can't get to the scene early… perhaps I'll even meet that mate of yours. Even if I don't, I fully expect you to introduce us… understand?" she said with a smirk. Her tiny fangs were visible. Ven felt that he should be repulsed by that, but oddly he found her fangs were possibly the only part of her that didn't make him want to run, far.

"Uhm… yeah…" Ven muttered, feeling trapped. The Leafeon giggled, turned and whipped his nose slightly with her tail.

"Good. See you there, then?" she said with a playful smirk. "If we don't get to meet, I'd be so very upset… so much so that I might need you to make it up to me… _personally_…" she said breathily, before continuing her fanged smile, and walking off with a bit of a saunter. Several male pokemon, some of them stopped just to see what the commotion was, gawked at her as she left.

Ven was among them before he shook his head, clearing it. She had this habit of applying a slight tone of Attract to the last few things she said to him. He figured it was to try and make him associate her with a good feeling; unfortunately, it didn't quite work.

His walk to the forest outside Mauville was interesting. Some of the females had walked off when he said he had a mate, but others just clinged harder. The majority of them were much less subtle than Anna had been (and even she had been fairly heavy handed). One or two attempted an Attract, he felt, but none of them were really that experienced with it, and it wasn't that strong considering he didn't connect eyes with them.

While he responded numbly to most of what they said, his mind was elsewhere, screaming at him to somehow find a way out of the hole he had dug for himself. Every possible circumstance ended up with him either ending up tied to Annabella, tied to one of the chipper females that were following him around, or losing Ceii's case spectacularly due to Anna's Master making a couple specific calls. Even if he managed to win, she could probably keep her in prison for a fair few number of years. Years she might not survive if that bracer was kept on her; Even the day or two she had been kept had been hard on her, he noted.

There was one other possibility… it was risky, but it seemed like it was the only real option that didn't involve him actually taking a female he really didn't care for as a mate.

He sighed as he approached the police zone from the widest area possible. He was waved in, but his groupies were not. They didn't leave him, but did circle around the perimeter like someone had suggested to him- his 'mate' was apparently doing the same thing, so he would have to come out sometime soon.

He made his decision quickly, running behind a group of trees to hide himself before reversing direction, exiting the protected area from the other side. He kept glancing around over his shoulder, making sure Anna wasn't around.

He glanced around desperately, then blinked as he saw his luck. A female Charmander, wearing a black collar, was wandering fairly aimlessly by the boundary, probably someone here more for the police investigation than for him. Either way, she didn't look familiar, so he could at least be sure she wasn't one of his accosters.

He reached over and tapped her shoulder.

"Uhm, ma'am, excuse me…"

"Hm?" the reptile responded, glancing over her shoulder, blinking and even doing a short double take. Luckily, she didn't seem to recognize him, which he felt was the biggest risk.

"Sorry to bother you, but could you do me a really big favor?" he asked, empathetically stressing the last part. He was still panting with breath, more from stress than from exhaustion. "I'm fairly desperate at the moment…" he added.

The charmander gave him a look and turned towards him.

"What kind of favor?" she asked with a touch of suspicion, crossing her arms. Ven paused, wondering both how to explain what he was about to ask and make her agree to it.

"Just-" he paused and quickly checked over his shoulder for any of the females, blinking and swearing under his breath when he noticed the familiar shape of Annabella approaching none too quickly, seeming amused.

"Just go along with everything I say, please, around the females?" he hissed under his breath, before pausing. "Wait, what's your name?" he added quickly, that being a rather crucial detail.

"Ember. Wait, what?" she said with a hint of shock as Ven quickly adopted a false-calm, grooming down his somewhat disorderly fur into something more respectable. As Annabelle approached and nodded at him, he pretended not to notice for a couple seconds before blinking in false-pleasant surprise.

"Oh, Annabelle, didn't expect you to catch up with us so quickly… how pleasant…" he said with a shakey chuckle. The Leafeon raised an eyebrow and appraised Ember silently, in barely disguised disapproval, who frowned slightly at the eon's expression. Anna clicked her tongue slightly.

"I'm rather quick at… finding things, Ven." She said passively, returning her attention to the fire lizard, albeit with an air of dismissal. "So, this was the mate you were talking about earlier?"

Ember's expression quickly changed to obvious alarm, which Ven quickly noted and interrupted before she could say anything.

"Uh, yes, she is." He said with a smirk and quick glance at Ember. "We just met recently." He said sincerely, the edges of his smirk twitching upward briefly. "Anna, meet Ember. Ember, Anna."

Anna once again held Ember in her icy glance. "Good to make your acquaintance, then, Ember." She said coldly, the subtext behind her words implying the exact opposite.

Ven quickly cleared his throat before Ember could say anything else, his strategy at this point being to have his makeshift partner talk as least as physically possible.

"Uh, well then Anna, I wouldn't want to keep you around just-"

"Nonsense. I've got time to spare, Ven." The Leafeon said, while smirking a little. Ven resisted a shiver at the expression, which didn't seem innocent in the slightest. His heart sank when she sat down, evidently planning on staying there for a while.

"Why don't you tell me a little about your mate, while we're here? I'm awful curious." She said, still smiling in that rather creepy manner.

Ember still had a frown at her face, evidently not liking the sudden hostility directed towards her. Ven faltered briefly, noticing that they were beginning to be flanked by the rest of his harem, who were looking for all the world like savage animals waiting for their master's command to strike. Ember had evidently also noticed, though she didn't seem to comment and instead just shifted weight awkwardly onto one foot.

Ven coughed slightly as he started thinking on the fly.

"Well… we me… outside the city."

"Oh indeed? Is she a wild, then?" Anna responded sharply. Ember scowled.

His eyes flicking quickly to his 'mates's collar, Ven quickly cut in. "No, not at all… she's owned by a human…"

"Fascinating. If you'll permit me to ask, which human? Surely not some random child?" she said with a light note of what was surely intended to be humor. Unfortunately, Ven couldn't tell if there was a lick of truth in that.

"Oh, no, he's involved in…" the albino paused for a brief second. "Law."

Ember seemed to be amused and chuckled a little to himself. Ven decided to ignore that and hope Annabelle didn't find it as funny.

"Oh, then we would have something in common, Miss Ember. My own master if quite well known for his skills in the field of Law." She said with a growing smirk, somehow growing even more horrific every second.

Ven once again cut in before Ember could retort, "Not national or Civic. You wouldn't know him."

"Oh? Then exactly which branch WOULD he be involved in?"

"…International?" he said with a hint of uncertainty. Ember nodded obediently, though Ven's frown creased a little when she noted she seemed to be hiding another chuckle.

Anna was similarly amused. "Indeed? Is he from Hoenn, then?"

"Uhm, no. He's just visiting. It was only… happy circumstance I met up with her." Ven added, noting that he would probably find that funny if said circumstances hadn't also been dire.

Anna's amusement faded a little as she stifled a yawn. "Indeed. Are you planning on staying long then, Miss Ember?" she asked in a semi-flat tone.

Before Ven could cut in, Ember managed to mutter out loud, "Does it matter?"

"Uh…" Ven quickly scampered for some justification before Anna decided to take offense at her bluntness, "What she means is they still haven't completed the article of business they arrived for, and don't know when it will be completed. The actual expectation of their time is therefore irrelevant."

"Indded." Anna muttered once again, briefly stretching and stifling another yawn. "Well, go on Ven, don't let us females keep you. We know how much work you have today. I'll keep Ember here amused in your absence, I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about." She said, showing a little fang.

Ven paused, a chill running down his spine that wouldn't have been that unpleasant if it hadn't thrown a wrench into his plans.

"Right, umm…" he muttered to himself.

Ember raised an eyescale. "You think so?" she said with a hint of whimsy, not at all frightened. Ven quickly broke in before a fight could break out.

"Uh right, I apologize but I'm going to have to steal Ember from you for a while. It's easier to search for clues and whatnot with two heads and one, and all that…"

"Isn't that what the police are for?" Anna said dismissively, still watching Ember. Ven coughed a little.

"For the prosecution, the defense is more or less on his own for his investigation. But I apologize, we've really got to get going…" he said, quickly turning, walking towards the police tape and coaxing Ember to walk with him with his tail. Anna chuckled and looked throughful for a moment.

"Very well then, I suppose I'll leave you to your investigation Ven." He voice turned cold as she sneered, "Ember. We really must chat again soon." She said as she turned around and staked away in the opposite direction.

Ember growled at her as she treated, but quickly calmed down and followed the Eevee, glancing briefly at the tail he was pushing her wit without complaint. The other females stared daggers at her, but she didn't seem to either notice or care.

After they had walked a couple yards and the gaggle of females behind them had dispersed, Ven let out a massive sigh of relief, glancing over at his female companion.

"Thanks for that. You saved my tail there."

Ember nodded and gave him an odd expression. "Uh huh. What the hell?!" she exclaimed. Ven winced.

"Right. Guess I should give you an explanation, then…"

"Please do."

The albino's tail twitched a little in anxiety as he glanced around the area. He really needed to get back to working on the case, he had wasted a lot of time as it was and he was trusting ORIN of all people to do his work in his absence.

"I'll give you the compressed version... simply put, I'm rather rich and powerful, not meaning to stroke my own ego, and a lot of females are after me because of that. However, I'm also representing my sister in court tomorrow on a really serious charge, so I don't have time to waste and a lot of those females won't take no for an answer. The Leafeon in particular could really make life hard for me if I upset her. And well, the easiest way to blow them all off without offending is to not be eligible in the first place... Ergo..."

"Ah. I see." The charmander crossed her arms, glancing at him coolly. "So, what now?"

"Ah, well... you don't have to keep pretending if don't want to. I mean, I'd appreciate it if you didn't let it slip I was faking it, but there's no need for you to keep up the charade at all times for my sake."

"Hm?" Ember furrowed her brow a little. "What if they come back? I don't think they were convinced. Especially that Leafeon." She frowned a bit. "I don't like her."

"Most of them can't come into the police restricted zone. Anna can, and she really wasn't convinced, so she will be difficult to deal with... I don't like her either, but I guess you got that... but I could always just tell them you're off with your trainer doing something, or in the city or whatever."

"I don't really have a trainer, actually."

"Eh, then what's the collar for? And anyway… well, I've got things to do around here, so you can leave it you want. You might want to hang back a little so that there aren't any stragglers waiting to surprise you, though…"

"It's not really important…" she replied dismissively. "And what would they do?" she said with a faint hint of amusement.

Ven blinked and shrugged a little. "Ah… can't be sure. They might just follow you around annoyingly and ask for intimate details about me. Or they could just attack you."

"Are they trained?"

"Some. Most not."

Ember smirked and showed a couple of her own, rather impressive fangs. Her claws flexed a little. "Then I'm not worried. But what's there to do here, then?"

Ven blinked at her, briefly distracted by her fangs, but shook his head to clear it. "Ah, well… not much. It's a murder site. Really, the only thing anyone is doing is combing it for clues… which I actually should be doing right now…"

"Wait, what? Murder…?"

"Right... maybe I should explain... my sister's been accused of murder, I'm the defense attorney. Therefor, it's my job to prove she's not guilty."

She gave him a strange look, before speaking bluntly. "Did she do it?"

Ven blinked at her incredulously before speaking out, "Of course not! One, she has no motive, she didn't even know the victim. And secondly, she's not the type to kill. She doesn't even battle!" he grumbled a little, before glancing over at a nearby log. He examined, checking for any secrets it might hold, but eventually sighed. Any secrets the log might have held either didn't exist, or had been washed away by the rain.

"Sorry. Wasn't thinking." Ember replied somewhat apologetically. Ven shrugged slightly.

"Yeah, well… Here, help me look around, see if there are any clues in this area. The trees were disturbed, so someone passed by here last night.

Ember blinked. "Okay, then. So...what kind of clues?"

Ven paused. "Well… anything that looks out of the ordinary, or might point to what happened. For example, there's blood beneath that branch…" he said, pointing to a specifically taped log wedged into the ground. Dried red coated a small nook between the ground and the leaning log's side. "…assumingly from the victim, who broke her leg in the struggle."

"Assumingly"?

"Blood tests take time and it was raining."

"Okay. Um...I don't know. How did it happen?

Ven paused, mentally recounting the facts the way he understood them. "The way the police understand it, the Victim walked into the forest first, followed by my sister. According to them, she then proceeded to go insane due to her mental illness, and murdered the victim with telekinesis, after a struggle... which explains why the injuries on the victim weren't made by claws or fangs... She then continued to rampage around the forest before falling unconscious."

"Mental illness?"

"She has a problem where she isn't able to control her telekinetic powers, and occasionally releases them in strange ways depending on her mindset... but it wouldn't have her lose enough control to murder someone."

"Not strong evidence though, I bet.

"Of course not. Worse part is that apparently the prosecution's got a witness. They're in police custody, so we can't get to them."

"You know...a witness sounds more like it would help you...I mean, if she didn't commit the murder".

The white eevee sighed. "You'd think, wouldn't you? But somehow I somehow doubt it's going to be that easy." He said, sitting down on the ground and glancing over. It was true, if there was anything he was certain of this, is was that this wasn't going to be easy.

Ember apparently shared his sentiments, as she sighed and sat down next to him.

"Nothing's ever easy."

"Not for me, anyway." Ven said with a hint of resentment. His tail twitched; he was beginning to wonder if he did something to make karma want to take a shot at him.

"You've got the mates swarming you." She pointed out.

"Meh. I wouldn't ever take any of them." He retorted idly.

Ember blinked in mild confusion. "Why not?"

Ven shrugged a little, punctuating it with another little sigh" They want me because I'm politically powerful and rich. And apparently cute, I guess. Why WOULD I want a false relationship with any of them?"

The charmander glanced over at him and gave him a cursory once-over. "They're not wrong." She said in an odd tone, more to herself than to him. "So, you need to avoid them for a while?"

His ear twitched. "Well, yeah I guess. Well, now that they think I'm taken, I don't think they'll be as motivated."

Ember smirked and chuckled a little. "You go ahead and think that."

"Well, what else can I do? I'll just have to spend most of my time here or at the court and minimize the chances they get to throw themselves at me."

"I know, but I was just thinking. You already said we're mates, but they don't really believe it. What'll happen if they don't see us both for a while?" she said, glancing over at him. He briefly noticed her tail flame had risen a little bit from before.

"I would hazard a guess that they'd call my bluff." He said, trying not to sigh any more and look pitiful.

"You don't want that?" she said with a glance at him.

"Obviously not…" he said with a hint of suspicion, wondering what point she was getting to.

"…And what I don't want is to be harassed over playing a part in it." She said, continuing.

Ven shrugged a little. "Understandable."

"So..." she paused, seeming maybe a little shyer. "…maybe keep me around a little. It'll ward them off longer."

He blinked a little incredulously. "You wouldn't mind?"

She shrugged." I have nothing else to do, really."

"Uhm..." Ven sighed. This was getting to be somewhat awkward… he had assumed that if he somehow managed to pull it off, he would somehow be in the clear. This complicated things a little, though he could see where she was coming from "Alright then... I guess I really owe you one, then?" he offered.

"I only have one catch." She quickly added.

Ven suppressed another sigh, expecting this. People never did other people favors like that for nothing.

"I want you to help me find a place to settle my life down."

Ven blinked. "Wait… what do you want me to help you find?"

"A place to settle my life down." She repeated. "Something that's not overly dangerous. I don't want to be running around as a wild, and I don't want to be in a criminal gang or something. So, could you help me?" she seemed a little hopeful. Ven still had reservations, wondering if she had some hidden catch, but his suspicions melted as he watched that face. It was too sincere not to trust.

"Alright… that's do able." He said finally. "I promise as soon as this is all over, I'll help you out." He added. He didn't want her to get the impression he could help her before his sister, he still needed to finish that first.

"Oh, good." She said with a slight smile of relief.

Ven nodded. "But first, we need to finish this. Tell me if you see a stupid Jolteon, will you?"


	36. Xanatos Investigation

**Act 3 – Death in the Family**

**AN: **Hey everyone. Just a note here; since my disclaimer was cut off in my last chapter accidently, I'd like to reiterate that Ember is not a character of my own personal creation. She belongs to Tracefan, and is used with his permission.

Court segments next chapter. Be ready.

**Chapter 5**

**-**

**--**

-

"The game is afoot." A small electric type said wryly. He paused, rolling his eyes curiously up towards his forehead, as his ears drooped a little bit in disappointment.

"Aww. Wish I had the hat, though." He said a little sulkily. "All I have is this stupid one…" he muttered, one ear twitching a bit in order to adjust the position of the brown leather chapeau on his head. It was a strange shape, neither quite fedora nor quite bowler, almost as if it were some cutright version of either or both. Either so, it accompanied the brown cloak tied around his neck quite well.

Tiris was attempted to figure out where he had obtained the getup in such a short period of time.

"_Is the costume particularly necessary?"_ she inquired, holding a notepad in her right claw. A pen was held in her left, as she had taken notes earlier, though as of yet they hadn't found anything that Ven hadn't already; the psychic was already looking forward to the return of the Eevee, considering his brother didn't seem to be taking this particularly seriously.

Orin nodded, smirking. "Indeed it is, my lovely assistant." he said with a wink.

Tiris blinked.

Orin continued undeterred. "So, anyway. I think we should review what clues we have?" he smirked. "And what we need to know."

Tiris sighed, licked a claw and flipped open the notebook. "We've got the Autopsy Report and a summary of the Prosecution's theory on the murder." she listed, "we've also found some partially washed away footprints, which could belong to either the victim or defendant. There's unidentified blood beneath that log, which has been sent for testing."

Orin spoke up, a couple quills flaring out a little. "So whose blood does it belong to again?" he questioned.

"As I said, they're still testing. Considering the victim was found a few feet from it, however, and had a broken leg, it's generally been accepted that it belongs to the victim."

Orin paused, then paced a little in place. "Broken leg? Come, walk and talk." He said, turning to one direction and walking in that direction somewhat restlessly Tiris noted. He didn't seem to comfortable stopping in one place for too long- it was difficult for her to resist diagnosing him, but she managed to focus her attention back at the case.

"_The victim broke her leg. It's assumed that she was trapped underneath the log, broke her leg, and managed to crawl out for a few yards before dying."_

"Of blood loss?"

"_Unlikely. There weren't few blood trails between the log and her resting place, oddly. It's more likely the killing blow wasn't landed until she crawled away. That said, it is odd that she would lose blood when her leg was cracked, but not while she was crawling…"_

The yellow eon nodded, paused and sniffed at some plants, then nodded at her and kept walking. "Seems like a bit of a hole in that theory then."

"_Yes, though nothing case-breaking. Likely, the prosecution is preparing an excuse." _She added. If the jolteon had seen it, the likelihood of whomever Ven was facing in court to have thought of it tripled instantly.

"So, what else?" Orin asked. "Or is that really all we have?"

Tiris shook her head. "We have a weather report I bothered to pick up. It rained for approximately forty-five minutes last night, between 1:12 and 1:57, and though it's impossible to place when the murder took place, it had to have been during or before that period considering all of the tracks are worn down by the water."

Orin paused. "One o' clock?" he asked with a note of intrigue to his voice. "Why would either Espeon have been out that late? Ceii hates the dark." He paused briefly. "And you said there was a witness? Who ELSE was wandering around suspicious forests at night?" he muttered incredulously.

the female shook her head a little. _"I wouldn't be able to say. Ceii claims to have no memory of the incident or the preceding circumstances and the victim is obviously unavailable to speak to." _

Orin hesitated for a second, as if considering something. "Would she have any family we could speak to? Maybe someone she knows knew what she was doing here?" he muttered, while sniffing at a piece of overturned dirt with an interested expression.

"_They would be in police custody at the moment, I'm afraid." _She said with a note of disappointment. _"The prosecution would probably instruct them not to talk to members of the public about it until after the court proceedings; that include us, unfortunately."_

She stopped when she noticed Orin wasn't walking anymore, and was still closely examining the clump of dirt.

"_What's so interesting about that?" _She questioned, walking back a little closer to him. The male grinned, pointing. "Footprints."

"_We've found others like them…" _She said then paused. _"They probably belong to the policemen walking around here. If they weren't, they would have tape around the area so people don't step in them." _She explained, though she doubted it the moment it came out of her mouth.

As did Orin, who was shaking his head. "Nope, sorry to say you're wrong Tiris, but you are. Look at them. They're almost smeared entirely into the mud. The rain wrecked them." He said, gesturing. "You can only really see the shape near the trees, where not as much rain fell. And… I doubt they're from Ceii or that Iris chick." He muttered.

"_Why so?"_

"Just look at them." He said, gesturing again. "They're much bigger than even my prints. I doubt a female eon could leave them… come to think of it, I doubt an eon of any sort could leave them…" he added, looking a little unsure of it himself.

Tiris observed closer, and blinked a little in surprise. _"You're correct. The prints are clearly from a pokemon larger than either the victim or defendant… though indeed a quadruped." _She observed. _"You can tell by the toes. I'll make a sketch." _She said, walking near one of the better preserved prints and taking out a sketching pencil.

Orin paused and turned around, his sensitive ears having picked up something. He glanced over at his partner, who was still drawing and evidently didn't hear.

Overcome more by his sense of curiosity than sense, Orin crept forward a little, making sure to make as little noise as possible. Through the years, he had learned the use of a little stealth, and made sure to employ it whenever useful. Such as eavesdropping.

He only caught the last couple fragments of sentence, no matter how he strained.

"Tha…your time, …"

he heard from the distance, in a rough sort of voice from what he could tell. The speaker appeared to be a little unsure of himself and was speaking both more quietly and more loudly than normal. He shuffled a little closer.

"No….. all, ….let's keep…."

This was a second speaker, he was sure. Unlike the first one, this was in control. A smooth voice, not in the slightest flustered. This was aggravating; he had to strain particularly hard to even catch a hint of what he was saying. Maybe if he leaned a little…

"Hello, mister Jolteon. Would you care to join us?" he heard a clear voice say directly into his ear.

He blinked in shock, recoiled and nearly fell over before he caught him. The smooth voice laughed at him, and Orin growled when he noted the voice now had a face along with it. A Gallade; he had noticed them before, waifish things that were always male despite their appearance, with dangerous-looking green blades attached to their arms.

They were also psychic. A fact he disliked.

The psychic's deep blue eyes, uncomfortably reminding him of his brothers equally blue pools, sparkled with humor while they bored into him.

"Sorry for startling you like that." He said sincerely. He had the voice of a snake, Orin thought. He was the type that could sell you poison and call it milk, and you'd believe him the entire way through. Orin had met people like that before, in his time. They always scared him.

"No problem." Orin growled back. He noted that Tiris had noticed his disappearance, and was walking towards him. Similarly, a small orange creature was walking towards his bladed opposition, who was still smiling in the way that a snake might. Once again, Orin didn't like this one.

"So, I take it you were eavesdropping on our conversation, then?" the gallade said, the humor dying in his eyes though he still retained the empty smile. "You know, that's a legal offense from what I hear. I wouldn't make a habit of it."

Orin snorted at the words 'legal offense'. "It's a free forest. I can do what I want."

"Actually, it's not." was the retaliation, though it was still said levelly. "This is a controlled police zone."

Orin thought it over, and shrugged. He was about to say something, but Tiris cut him off.

"_Ray? You are aiding this man?" _he heard his assistant say, speaking to the Raichu whom was acting as the assistant to the gallade.

The raichu, apparently Ray, nodded. "Yeah. His name is Alistair. He's a prosecutor. I'm helping him out with a case." He said with a twinge of pride. Tiris smiled a little, evidently happy he had found something to do rather than wallow in self pity like always, but then frowned when she realized the implications of what he said.

Orin beat her to the punch. "Wait, what?" he growled. "YOU'RE the ass that's trying to send my sister to jail?" he snarled a little, taking a step forward.

Alistair raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

"Ceii! Ceii, you ass. The espeon you're trying to put away forever!"

Alistair's eyebrow stayed raised. "I do believe that's the name of the defendant. And I must correct you, but the penalty for civilized pokemon judged guilty of murder is death, much the same way it is for humans found guilty of a similar crime."

Orin's eyes widened, then he growled, taking another step forward. "So then you admit it! You're trying to kill her with those stupid laws of hers!"

Ray blinked and glanced incredulously at Orin, sparking for a second. Tiris took a step back warily, having noticed Alistair; while he hadn't made any physical movement, his eyes had changed from a magnificent blue to a more threatening violet.

"Take another step towards me, and I shall consider it aggravated assault." He said coolly. "I will then defend myself to the extent the law will allow me to." He added a bite on the second sentence, "You wouldn't believe what they WOULD let you get away with under the clause of self-protection".

Tiris took a step forward, cautioned. _"Orin, do not do anything stupid." _She warned, after a second placing a claw against the enraged eon's pelt.

After a few seconds of just glowering at Alistair, who met his gaze adamantly, he turned and walked off.

"Let's go."

Tiris blinked in surprise. _"Aren't we going to ask-"_

"Let's GO." He said through gritted teeth, stalking off in the other direction. Alistair's gaze was masked as he watched the retreating form of the electric type into the foliage, before he suddenly shook his head.

"Well then, Ray, we have things to see to also." He said nonchalantly, offering a brief nod to Tiris before beckoning his protégé and walking off on his own. Ray offered a quick, respectful nod at Tiris before chasing after the psychic type, and Tiris briefly wondered if the rodent knew he was helping to sentence Ven's sister to death. Most likely not, she reflected. He probably didn't even know who Orin was.

The female kadabra turned and chased after the male eon that had stormed off.

It hadn't been hard to catch up to him, though he had moved considerably far away from the spot where she had see him run from. She paused for a second to catch her breath, not being particularly accustomed to physical activity, and proceeded to walk by the electric type's side.

She let him cool off for a few seconds. She figured it would be best if she didn't say anything for the moment.

They walked in silence. Neither stopped to look at anything for clues, and they ran into nobody else. From the looks of it, the majority of the police force had gone already. Once or twice, she swore she saw the distinctive white fur of Ven pass by, sometimes accompanied by something bright and orange, but didn't bother to bring this to the attention of the grumpy jolteon. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she felt Orin needed more help than Ven did at the moment.

Eventually, the electric type sighed and sat down in a small clearing in the woods. He muttered to himself, looking downward. "Some brother I managed to be…"

Tiris blinked. Of the things she expected him to be upset about, that wasn't one of them.

"_What do you mean?"_

Orin growled at her, rolling one eye to look at her.

"What do you THINK I mean? That guy's more or less going to kill her." He snorted. "Sure, someone else is gunna hold the axe, but he's the one that makes it all happen. And I just walked away from him. I just WALKED AWAY! I should have eviscerated him!" he nearly howled.

Tiris paused, and shook her head_. "It wouldn't have helped anything. Plus, Ceii wouldn't have wanted you to get hurt."_

She was guessing at this second part, having had no prior encounters with the espeon. It sounded like something she should say, anyway.

Orin made a wracking sigh. Tiris almost raised an eyebrow; it sounded almost like he was choking back tears.

The jolteon muttered a little bitterly. "I guess you're right… it just feels so… helpless." He continued. "I already failed Ceii once and I… don't want to do it again." He admitted. Tiris blinked; that must have been painful for him.

He sat up, and tried to look a little professional. "So, what did you find?" he asked.

Tiris smiled a smidge. _"Well, actually… while drawing the footprints, I found… this."_ She said, opening a claw to reveal a crumpled ball of paper. Orin blinked at it, then carefully with his paws, opened it. "Wow, it's… a letter?" he said with a quirk in his expression.

"What's it say? I can't read too well." He admitted. "Wouldn't want to mess up the translation, of course."

Tiris nodded. _"Of course. It's contents are as follows…"_

She drew a claw along each line as she read it.

"_Meet me in our spot at midnight. I'll be waiting." _She read, pausing after a second. _"There's no salutation or address, oddly."_ She said, _"And the signature is some sort of weird squiggle. I would say that it's a picture of a …maybe a flower?" _she said after a second.

Orin examined it. "Looks more like an eye to me." He said doubtfully. He glanced up at her. "Think it has something to do with the case?"

"_The ink's runny and it was fairly muddy when I found it. It was dropped either during, or prior to the murder; the fact it's not destroyed, means probably not much prior." _She explained. _"I would say that there's a fairly good chance that it's related."_

Orin nodded and glanced around, before turning to the Kadabra. "Hate to say it, but that's probably all we're going to find here." He said.

Tiris nodded. _"I agree. All we've missed will probably be revealed in court then."_

Orin sighed. "So… we've done all we can, then?"

"_I believe so. The rest is up to Ven."_

Orin grunted and looked upward. "Ven…" he growled. "If you screw up…"

"I'll fucking kill you."


	37. Xanatos Objection pt1

**Act 3 – Death in the Family**

**Chapter 6**

**-**

**--**

-

A gavel banged three times against a firm surface as a calm voice cried out in the courtroom.

"Order, order." The judge said without a particular amount of conviction. He was a pink-skinned creature with a strange shell perched upon his head, seeming all for the world like a shell. A small ruby gleamed at the center, but otherwise it didn't appear to be anything but a fairly eccentric piece of headwear. Wide, largely disinterested eyes with small pupils surveyed the contents of the grand room as the various murmurs and chatter was silenced.

'_A Slowking?' _Ven wondered to himself, before shaking his head a little, trying to get focused. Of course the judge was a slowking- among psychic types, they had the rare capacity for both empathetic and telepathic branches of the discipline, making them far more useful as a mediator than a strictly-logical alakazam or emotional gardevoir.

That said, psychic abilities didn't really factor into court proceedings too often. Memories were too often warped by personal interest or embellishment, useful information was drowned in a sea of conjecture and extrapolation… far too much of a mess to rely upon reliably. Ven vaguely recalled reading about several old cases in which a human was able to fabricate entirely new memories for himself, in place of the ones that incriminated him.

Much easier to do it the personal way. Face-to-face confrontation between the Defense and Prosecution, systematic disassembly of verbal testimony, natural logic deductions… in some respects, it might be considered inferior, but Hoenn at least preferred it to the alternative.

Ven sighed, mentally cursing all of this. He resisted the urge to paw at his eyes and stretch out- looking unprofessional in this instance was the last thing he needed, in face of the prosecution. '_I must look ridiculous…' _he thought to himself with a hint of annoyance, glancing down at the chair and table that made up the Defendant's Bench, obviously intended for a creature that had far less legs.

He glanced warily out to his 'aide', on the other side of the bench. The kadabra was sitting there passively, obviously much more comfortable than he was, probably due to less awkward body shape. Her fairly thick tail folded easily against the backboard of the bench, more than his own bushy appendage could.

An ear twitched as he glanced down at the papers before him. Tiris' notes made up whatever wasn't just simple legal documentation; oddly enough, she and Orin had managed to find more than a couple curious clues that he figured he might be able to use. The yellow eon was somewhere up in the gallery, with the rest of the curious spectators. A pokemon being tried was almost unheard of. Ven reflected that it might not be the absolute first time it happened, but it was the first time such a trial was held for a comparatively regular defendant.

"Is the Defense ready?" the judge said in a bored drawl, almost stifling a yawn. _'Is that just due to his species, or is he really that bored?_' Ven wondered to himself, before nodding.

"The defense is ready, Your Honor" he said confidently, in stark contrast to how he really felt. He noticed Tiris glance towards him, and felt his neck prickle a little. Her gaze was fairly discontenting, considering how rarely she spoke.

"_Calm down. You're starting to annoy the judge._" Ven heard a soothing voice say in his head. He glanced briefly at the Kadabra, who nodded at him and gestured. He blinked, noticing that he was gripping the sides of the bench fairly tightly with his paws, grinned sheepishly and relaxed.

The Judge quirked an eyebrow, but nevertheless passed him over without comment. He glanced over at the opposite seat, which was currently empty. "And the Prosecution?" he said in an equally bored drawl. He waited for a few seconds, though received no response.

The crowd talked amongst themselves.

Ven blinked at the empty bench directly across from him. He sighed a little in relief, smiling slightly. Arriving late was a great way to wear away the judge's patience, and if they didn't appear, there was a chance the case could be dismissed completely. He chuckled a little to himself, and took the chance to glance across the hall, sighing a little at the sight.

Ceii was seated in the defendant's box, though she hardly seemed happy. The weighty, painful-looking metal collar around her neck was still in place, completely cutting off her psychic ability. Her condition obviously wasn't agreeing with the cap on her power; even moreso than yesterday, her fur seemed to be thinning in some patches and every once in a while, she stiffened in obvious pain. Though she glanced around, it was with slightly glazed eyes; she barely seemed healthy enough to be out and about.

Ven gritted his teeth to stop himself from growling, suddenly irritated. Was the Prosecution stalling for time? If they had to reschedule the case, it could take days to find a new prosecutor. Sure, the judge might be more inclined to agree with the defense, but looking at Ceii's deteriorating condition… well, Ven wondered if she'd live longer than a week in conditions like that. He wasn't an expert in pokemon biology, and certainly not on mental conditions of psychic-types, so he couldn't say, but…

He was broken out of his thought patterns as the sound of footsteps entered the hall, instantly silencing all the chattering. The judge made an inquisitive noise, glancing over from his tall position to observe the one who entered.

"Many apologies for my lateness, Your Honor." Came the voice of the one who made his way inside. Ven raised an eyebrow; the creature was mainly humanoid, though it featured a predominantly green and white skin pallet and strange reddish triangle-shape through its middle. Two blade-like extensions on either side of its arm gleamed a little, making the prey-species instincts in Ven act up slightly.

He bit his lip and calmed himself down quickly; It was just a gallade, he told himself. The species was incredibly rare; After all, the Ralts line were entirely very rare, and males that managed to find a Dawn Stone, perhaps the rarest of the evolutionary stones, were nearly nonexistent.

Still, this one managed to get one, Ven reasoned. And beyond that, he was apparently an attorney.

Ven tried to resist looking smug. Obviously, the judge would lay a penalty down for tardiness… the trial was already going in his favor!

Instead, the Judge just nodded passively. "Indeed. I expect an excuse, Alistair, for wasting the court's time."

The humanoid seemed to smirk, and Ven noticed quickly that it seemed to have particularly blue eyes. Rather rare, he figured. Most psychic types had either red or violet eyes, something with a stranger pigment at least. But no, Alistair seemed to have twin blue pools, a deeper blue then even the Albino's own iris color.

Alistair made a slightly elaborate gesture with his hands. "But of course, Your Honor. You see, understandably, our Witness has been personally impacted by the course of events in this case, as will become clear in time. I was simply sparing the moments to ensure his aptitude to provide useful testimony; he is a rather fragile soul, and regrettably, the death of the victim has been rather hard for him." He said with a note of sympathy.

Ven blinked incredulously. "That's not an excuse…" he muttered under his breath. Tiris shot him a warning glance and he quickly composed himself. Right, professionalism- he'd almost forgotten, what with all the time he'd spent with Narc and the rest of the team, that there were times to complain and times to keep quiet.

The Judge nodded. "Of course." He said with a twinge more emotion than usual in his monotonous drone, Ven noted with surprise and apprehension. "The wellbeing of the witness is a rather important component of any trial. It would simply not due for them to have an emotional breakdown amidst the cross-examination." He said with a slight nod. Ven fought to keep his jaw from falling. Did his opponent just earn brownie points for being late?

"That said…" the judge continued in a slightly more severe tone, which unfortunately was hardly any different from any of his usual tones, "It is your responsibly as Prosecutor to ensure you are on time. The court shall overlook it this once, but do not test our patience." He warned, though without any real bite.

Alistair offered a slight bow, with one blade-arm crossed across his chest. "Of course. I would never presume to waste more of the Court's time than absolutely necessary. Shall we proceed, then?" he said evenly, before walking over to his bench. He produced several papers from a satchel that Ven wasn't able to see from his position, and skimmed them over quickly. He nodded afterwards, gathering them into one and evening them out on the bench table.

Ven sighed. Already he didn't like this- Alistar was manipulating the judge fairly blatantly, and it didn't look like he was about to be called out on it soon. He certainly had his work cut out for him.

"If both the Defense and the Prosecution are ready…" the Judge said evenly, glancing between the two blue-eyed lawyers, and banging a gavel a couple times. "Then I bring the case of the State verses Ceii, Citizen No.01128, to order."

The Slowking glanced over at the psychic lawyer. "The Prosecution may present their case."

Ven blinked. Alistair had presently heard the Judge, but failed to respond. Instead, his brilliant blue orbs were closed as he seemed to mumble to himself, occasionally seeming to twitch very slightly. The eevee was even more confused that the judge didn't find this odd, instead the shell-headed vestige of power simply looking faintly amused at the other psychic's silence.

"…I see it." came the calm reply at last, the eyes opening a crack.

"…See what?" Ven couldn't resist asking. He winced- he probably shouldn't have taken the bait.

"…I see your downfall, my furry friend." He said with a smirk. "The future is clear to me now. This case shall be resolved quickly, I think, so no fear."

He smirked and pivoted slightly, snapping a finger loud enough to startle Ven a little. He blinked, glancing around incredulously. Seriously, nobody was going to object to that?

"…I'd like to start off your inevitable verdict, Your Honor, with an account of how the murder took place." The psychic said with a hint of a smile. "I'd like my assistant to testify about our evidence and theory if you wouldn't mind. I figure a few cold, hard facts might quench any passionate emotions that may get in the way of the case…" he warned, giving a meaningful look at Ven, who gritted his teeth again. He'd only known the bipedal psychic for the past few minutes, and he already wanted to throttle him. And what was even worse, he had the vaguest feeling that the impression was intended.

The Judge, on the other hand, simply nodded. "Indeed. Request granted. Your assistant may take the stand." He said simply, banging his gavel once.

The prosecutor nodded, turning towards the door to the prep room across the hall. Immediately, a small orange creature walked out, looking slightly unsure of himself but nevertheless fairly confident. He climbed up to the top of the hall, and took his spot in the witness' box. Ven noted, with some surprise, that of all people, it was Ray!

He turned incredulously to Tiris, who simply nodded.

"_Ray's been helping out him for a while now." _She said telekinetically.

Ven scowled and thought back furiously. _"What? For how long? The traitor…"_ he thought with a dark tint to it. The raichu turning on him was unexpected- he didn't even know where Ray had gotten to when they arrived in Rustboro.

Tiris shook her head. _"I do not know, though I expect he didn't know him before this." _She said, quickly adding a second part. _"He seems a little unsure of himself. I don't think he's ever conceived of court before, but he likes the idea."_ She decided, nodding a little.

Ven scowled. "Pity he's on the wrong side of the court…" he muttered under his breath.

Alistair nodded up to Ray, who nodded back. "You may begin your testimony, Ray." He said.

Ray took a slight breath, and rubbed his neck. "Alright." He said before an awkward pause.

He took another breath as the court waited, chuckling a little nervously as the entire room went dead quiet to listen to him, and started to speak.

"When the police got there, there were several clues still in plain view…" he started, quickly gaining confidence.

"Most tellingly, both the killer and body were still there." He said with a hint of a chuckle. "So it probably wasn't a premeditated murder. That said, it still WAS pretty gruesome… the killer chased the victim through a large swath of forest, tearing it apart with the force of her telekinetic power. While running , the victim ended up causing a injury to herself while pursued. When she tried to crawl away, the killer caught up to her and landed the final blow."

He paused thoughtfully for a second. "She fell unconscious almost immediately afterwards, though not before hacking away another small segment of the forest." He added.

The Judge listened to the testimony, and nodded to it. "Sounds probable." He said generously. Ven winced, feeling as though physically struck- the Judge seemed on not to be on his side, then.

The Judge spoke up again. "I believe there has been mention of the defendant having a medical condition that could be connected to her psychopathic behavior?" he questioned. Alistair chuckled a little and nodded.

"Indeed, Your Honor, Acquired Telepathic Mindset Deficiency Syndrome. It's a rare affliction that sometimes appears in evolutions that were not born psychic." He explained.

"It's been known to cause erratic behavior, in addition to spontaneous bursts of telekinetic energy. It would not be impossible to conceive that the condition could send her into a psychotic frenzy…" He offered. He glanced over at the defendant's box, where Ceii was busy trying to make herself look small, evidently aware of the slant the case was quickly taking.

"I doubt this is a cold-blooded murderer we're dealing with…" he said nonchalantly. "But a psychic with a mental deficiency like such is simply too dangerous to keep in civilized society. She is guilty of murder, both while under the excuse of insanity and by proxy of not providing sufficient warning to the general populace of her condition. By continuing social interaction with the public at large, she placed their lives at risk. This is the prosecution's stance." He said, giving a small bow.

"That is all." He finished it off with a glint in the back of his blue eyes.

Conversation broke out among the stands.

Ven's fluffy white ear twitched and he felt himself tensing up again, as if going into a fight. _"Damn… that's not good." _He thought to himself, boring a hole in the side of the prosecuting psychic-type's head with his eyes.

Tiris paused, and glanced at him briefly. _"Well?" _she said expectantly after a moment. When Ven blinked cluelessly back at her, she elaborated. _"Aren't you going to cross-examine him? It's a testimony. You have the right." _

Ven paused, looking slightly surprised. He'd studied law for far longer than the kadabra had- several years opposed to Tiris' couple days- and he'd forgotten entirely about it.

"Indeed. Well, in that case, I believe we should move on to our first true witness. Prosecutor?" he said expectantly, glancing down at Alistair, who chuckled a little at the stir he had caused in the courtroom simply by outlining the facts.

"Indeed." He said, idly flipping through some of his notes. "In that case, the first witness I call to the stand should be-"

"Objection!" Ven cried immediately, slamming a paw down on his desk for emphasis, though the pad didn't make much in the way of an audible sound. He blinked as he realized that he had to try and keep the growl out of his voice- did yelling that out really rally him that much?

Alistair blinked, and then smirked good-naturedly. "Ah, my furry opponent speaks. I was beginning to wonder if you had simply decided to spectate today. You do have prime seats to witness the, if you'll pardon the analogy, solution to this simple equation here."

He chuckled. "It's a matter of sums, you see. One dead espeon plus one guilty suspect equals one case closed. QED. I'm certain you've learned your sums, now haven't you, my furry acquaintance?" he said with his arms crossed.

Ven growled very slightly. "If it's a matter of sums, than things just don't add up now don't they?" he responded quickly. He hesitated for half a second, realizing how unoriginal the retort must sound, and quickly elaborated.

"I have the right to cross-examine the witness." He grumbled a little. "So you'll have to hold off on bringing in the second one for a little while. Fair?" he muttered. He didn't come off as assertive or as confident as he'd have liked.

Alistair simply chuckled and shook his head. "Now cross-examine what, my fluffed amigo? Like all of my evidence, my assistant's rundown was nothing but cold, true, established facts. There is no contradiction." He said in a tone that almost seemed taunting. He glanced towards the judge, smirking.

"As I'm sure you've realized Your Honor, there is no point to allow this silly amateur to waste more of the court's time than required." He said clicking his tongue and making a dismissive gesture to Ven. The eevee felt his cheeks burn, and once again restrained an impulsive growl. How DID that guy get away with being such a cocky jackass in the middle of legal proceedings? Weren't professional debates supposedly against that kind of barbed retort?

The judge didn't comment on the apparent rudeness, but he did shake his head in a manner that caused Alistair's grin to fade away into a more neutral expression, as he banged the gavel once.

"If I recall, I granted leniency on you for wasting the court's time on more than a single occasion, Alistair. Including one not ten minutes ago." He said in a fairly thoughtful tone, for once drifting out of colorless monotone. He returned to the traditional territory, banging his gavel once more.

"The Defense has a right to cross-examine testimony. The information provided by your assistant is not impartial, third party or official testimony in the eyes of the law. The defense has a right to cross examine it." The Judge glanced down severely at Alistair.

The gallade scowled for a second, and Ven thought he caught a glint of violet from his usually-deep blue eyes, but it was gone almost as quickly as it came, the psychic once again seeming calm and composed.

"Indeed. Ray, I assume you wouldn't be averse to sticking around for a couple more pointless minutes then? The future is set, but if our four-legged defense attorney would like to postpone the inevitable, we have all the time in the world." he said in a tone that clearly conveyed he thought the exercise was a waste of time. At the end of it, he chuckled a little to himself, and with a glint in his eye, pivoted in place once more, snapping his fingers loud enough to, once again, startle Ven for a moment.

Ven grumbled a little, "I wish he would stop doing that."

Tiris shook her head, glancing over at him briefly. _"That's his game. He's trying to knock you off the scent in any way he can. Distracting you, acting condescending… It's trying to play off your nerves. Don't let him get to you."_

Ven sighed and shook his head. _"Easier said than done, I'm afraid." _He thought to himself, before glancing up with a determined expression at Ray. "Alright, Ray…" he muttered to himself. "Time for my first cross-examination."

The raichu looked faintly bemused, and shrugged with the hint of a smile on his lips. "Alright. Fine with me I suppose. All I need to do is repeat the testimony I've already given, correct?"

When the judge nodded to him, he started.

"When the police arrived, several clues were in plain sight…" he started off from memory, slightly different but still containing the general gist of what he had said before.

"Stop for a moment, there." Ven quickly interrupted. He'd learnt about cross-examinations before- It was up to him to make the witness elaborate on things, poke holes in their argument… expose their lies.

Ven wasn't entirely sure what kind of lies he could find in an account of the evidence, but he felt he might as well try. He might even sway a little more public favor in his direction…

"How did you know the clues were in plain sight? Were you there?" he questioned.

Ray paused, slightly annoyed. "Of course not. I arrived with Allistair the next day, when they told him they needed a prosecutor for a case."

Ven blinked. "So, where did you hear that the clues were in plain sight from anyway? And exactly when did the police arrive?"

"From the police that got there when they DID arrive, of course." He muttered, crossing his arms. "They got there at about four o'clock or so." He said hazily after a moment.

Ven paused and thought to himself. "Wait… but the murder took place in a deserted forest in the middle of the night, while it was raining no less. How did the authorities find out so quickly?"

"Well…" Ray began. "They were alerted by-"

"Our witness." Alistair cut in icily, giving Ven a slight glare. "You can hear all about it if you would end this charade of a cross-examination. Until then, I suggest you focus more on the bulk of the testimony."

The judge shook his head and banged the gavel. "I agree. There is no point to performing a cross-examination if you get off to a tangent that could be better dealt with elsewhere. That last question may be stricken from the record."

Ven's ear twitched in annoyance, but he didn't object. He didn't expect to get shut down that quickly, to be honest.

Ray continued with the testimony. "Both bodies –of the killer and the victim- were still there. It's unlikely the murder was premeditated." He said quickly, glancing at Ven, who stayed silent. He wanted to bring up an objection about Ceii being labeled as the 'killer' already, but considering the look the Judge was giving him already, he didn't want to tread on more thin ice than he needed to.

"However… it still was very gruesome." continued Ray. "The victim was chased through a large throng of forest that was ripped apart by the killer's abilities."

"Hold it." Ven said calmly. "How do we know the forest was ripped apart by the defendant? There was a storm that night. Perhaps the winds might have…"

"Nope." Alistair cut in, chuckling and shaking his head. "That's very shaky logic there, Cloud-Tail. Are you a meteorologist?" he said confidently. Ven blinked, and shook his head. The gallade simply chuckled.

"And then how, pray tell, do you have the expertise needed to claim that such a bizarre weather pattern may have happened?" he said with a smirking face. "There is a fairly clear passage through the trees made of sharded debris. Nothing like that is natural. It wasn't broken apart physically, therefore the only logical solution is that it was broken apart using telekinetic or elemental abilities- the such that only the killer would be using that night. QED." He shook his head, chuckling.

"Honestly rookie, if that's the best you can do… then my talents are almost wasted here." He said with a cocky grin returning. Ven allowed himself to growl a little, wanting to pull the face off the arrogant empath.

"Well, perhaps the victim fought bac-" Ven started, before being quickly cut off.

"Objection! … that is impossible. Or if not impossible, very, very unlikely." Alistair said with a small chuckle to himself. Ven felt his cheeks burn at being interrupted that quickly.

"Why so?" he questioned. Alistair chuckled and smiled. He closed his eyes briefly. "I see it…" he said after a second, before opening his eyes. "I see a four-legged greenhorn shamed in defeat due to a grievous lack of knowledge. It's the future I see!" he claimed.

Ven's ear twitched.

"…In any case…" Alistair shrugged off with another small chuckle. "The victim, Iris, was rather notable in that she lacked potent psychic abilities, much like the defendant." He smirked. "While they did not share a medical condition, they may have received similar treatment. In any case, unlike our defendant, the late miss Iris did NOT suffer from a surplus of power she couldn't control… quite the opposite, really. She couldn't make a grapefruit levitate, let alone cut a tree." He chuckled.

"Unless you can prove that Iris had a sudden and vicious gain in strength that day, I do not believe there is another explanation for the branches." He concluded. Ven wanted to object, but he couldn't find the voice to do so- he had nothing.

Alistair glanced over at Ray and nodded, who continued to give his testimony.

"The victim ended up causing grievous injury to herself, and while crawling away, the final blow was landed, killing her." He said, before finally completing the testimony.

"The killer fell unconscious a little while afterwards in a separate part of the forest." He concluded.

Ven blinked. He didn't see anything contradictory in the last couple lines, but something seemed… off…

Alistair seemed annoyed. "Well? Are we done with this sham of an examination, or do you need me to hold your paw, my bipedaly-disabled companion?" he said, voice thick with annoyance.

Ven spoke up. "Could you repeat those last few lines, Ray?" he called. Ray blinked.

"The killer fell-"

"No, not those." Ven amended. "Before that."

Ray started seeming a little uncomfortable. "The victim ended up causing grievous harm to herself in the pursuit-"

"Hang on." Ven said firmly. He smiled a little; he found a catch. Admittedly, he didn't know where it was going, but he was willing to fish for a while. "How?" he asked simply.

"How?" Ray parroted, confused.

"How did she cause injury to herself? I mean, it's a forest, but it should be reasonably easy to guess how she injured herself." Ven said, allowing a hint of teasing to enter his voice. He already knew what the answer was, but was curious why the prosecution wasn't giving a straight answer…

Alistair cut in, seemingly a bit annoyed. "There was a log that she may have been found under. We're not entirely sure as of yet." He said coolly. Ven blinked. Was it just his eyes playing tricks on him, or did the gallade's eye color become much more purple just then?

"Not entirely sure?" Ven questioned. The albino was starting to smile. "I know that log. Didn't it have a pool of blood beneath it? Certainly by now, they would have been able to match the blood sample?" he said, trying to hide a smile.

Ray flinched. Alistair did not.

"The results were… inconclusive." He admitted at last. Indeed, Ven noted, his eyes were shimmering violet disks at the moment.

"Inconclusive?" questioned the Judge finally, glancing down between both pokemon attorneys. "In this case, meaning what?"

"They are trying for a larger-range DNA test in order to accurately match the owner of the blood…" Alistair mentioned off-handedly. Ven smirked as he cut in.

"-meaning, that it didn't match up with any of the blood samples they had on hand…"

Tiris blinked, her eyes lighting up as she scribbled something in her notebook.

"This of course, means…" Ven was slightly giddy now. "That the blood found under the log didn't belong to the victim!"

Alistair looked like he'd sucked on a lemon. The Judge seemed slightly surprised. "Indeed… in that case, to whom DOES the blood belong to?" he questioned out loud. "If it couldn't be the victim, and it couldn't be the defendant…"

"Why couldn't it be the defendant?" Ven challenged, glancing at Alistair. "Somehow, I doubt you gave them a sample of her blood too."

"Hmph. You would be correct." Alistair muttered. "Her blood was only taken when the most obvious conclusion turned out… not nearly as conclusive as we would have thought." He managed to growl out, his voice sounding quite a bit deeper than normal. He didn't have a cocky grin anymore.

"However…" he added. "The defendant… sorry, the_ killer_…" he amended with a toothy grin, "Was not found with any wounds. It is highly unlikely that she was able to repair herself in her state, if she did somehow lose blood. Therefor, the blood must belong to some third party. Possibly a passing Rattata, unlucky enough to crawl under there before it toppled over. Who knows?" he said passively.

"Hang on." Ven contested. "This seems fishy… mysterious blood we can't place to an owner? Perhaps the –actual- killer came in and left, killing the victim and knocking out Ceii at the same time! You've got no proof that didn't happen!" he called.

Alistair chuckled and waggled a finger, smiling. He closed his eyes. "I see it… I see… your lack of sight." He said with a smirk, a finger placed between his eyes. "We do indeed have proof that there was no third person. We have a witness to the murder itself."

He glanced at the Judge. "I think we're done here. This cross-examination's come full circle… and I think it's about time we had a _real_ witness." He said with a smirk.

The Judge slowly nodded, before glancing over at Ven. "Indeed. Does the Defense have any objection to the Prosecution proceeding with their witness?" he said dully.

Ven paused, thought for a second, and shook his head. "No, your honor." He answered. He was a little curious, despite himself. He knew Ceii was innocent, but… how had it happened? Maybe this witness could shed some light on that…

The judge banged his gavel. "Will the next witness please take the stand." He said simply.


	38. Xanatos Objection pt2

**Act 3 – Death in the Family**

**Chapter 7**

**-**

**--**

-

The gallery was silenced quickly as three loud bangs of a gavel rang out in the wide building.

"Order, order." The judge called in the way that only a slowking could; equal parts boredom and ferocity. He glanced over to the stand. "Is the witness ready to testify?" he questioned.

Alistair smirked and nodded. "Of course, your honor." He said nonchalantly, turning to look at the pokemon he had brought in. The creature had large, chocolate-brown eyes and a thickly-striped pattern on a bright orangish-red pelt. The growlithe looked either way as its cream-colored tail flicked nervously behind it. Its paws contracted and pressed against the podium it was standing on.

"Witness." Alistair said coolly. "What is your name, citizenship number and occupation?" he asked in the remedial tone that easily gave away that he had repeated the question often in the past.

The growlithe swished its tail, cleared its throat and gave a nervous glance towards the judge before speaking.

"Uh… right… well, they call me Peter. Peter Freyd, I'd guess…" he muttered.

The judge raised an eyebrow, and for a brief moment, seemed curious. Ven blinked at seeing any trace of emotion cross the shellfish-pokemon's face, but quickly recovered.

"That's a somewhat uncommon name for a quadruped." The judge noted. "Is there a reason behind that?"

"Hm? Ah… I used to be wild, and after capture, I was named after my trainer's brother… so, uhm, yeah." Peter finished lamely. His eyes shifted a little to the side, as if he disliked talking.

The judge nodded. "Indeed. I can indeed understand that. I was named Judge for a similar reason." He chuckled to himself. Ven blinked, taken a little aback.

"_His name's really Judge?" _he thought to himself incredulously. Tiris didn't comment back to him, though he hear a series of chiming bells that sounded oddly similar to what one would call telepathic laughter. He glanced across, and while, like usual, the Kadabra wore a neutral expression, though she notably didn't meet his eyes when he glanced.

"With all due respect, could we speak about naming trends in captured pokemon at a later time, Your Honor?" Alistair said in an unimpressed tone, crossing his arms. The Judge blinked and nodded, banging his gavel once. "Oh, right… of course. Witness, your Civilian number and Occupation?" he repeated.

The growlithe's tail swished nervously again, and he nodded. "Right… I'm number, uh, 44453…" he muttered. "And my occupation is, uhm… professional instructor, I guess. I teach pokemon in the Gym combat techniques in exchange for room and board." he finally managed to bark out. His tail flicked once again; Ven twitched his ear in response. It was hard to focus on the growlithe when he was so jittery.

Alistair nodded. "Very Well, Peter Freyd. Would you please, for the sake of the court, recount the details of the day you witnessed that fateful murder?" he said in a pleasant voice, slightly less obnoxious than usual. Ven wondered why, until he saw the canine sniff, obviously trying to hold back tears.

'_he seems rather emotionally fragile for a battle instructor…' _he thought to himself, but shrugged. He couldn't really comment on that end, he'd never been to a Gym for any real length of time. Rustboro's gym was attached to its (rather prestigious) academy, and therefore he'd been by it several times, but he'd never bothered to stay and train any.

The witness cleared his throat again, and looked around awkwardly, eventually passing a glance towards Ceii. He shivered a little, as if from a memory, and muttered a little. "Right… my testimony… w-well…" he began. Alistair quickly cut in.

"If you would, Mister Peter Freyd, please speak up a little, for the benefit of the spectators." He said nicely. Ven mildly wondered why he seemed to be using the guy's full name for no apparent reason.

The witness nodded, stood up a little, and cleared his throat, this time a little more confident.

"Alright." He began, looking more unsure of himself than Ray had ever done. "I was walking near the woods that night when I passed the scene of the crime…" he started.

He cleared his throat again. Even that was starting to get distracting, Ven noted quickly. Peter continued talking;

"It was then that I heard a strange sound. Kind of a crackle and snap, something like a fire, but at the same time different…" he reasoned aloud. "And then, when I took a look to see what happened- That was when I saw it!"

he suddenly exclaimed, eyes wide. Ven blinked a little and Alistair looked smug. Suddenly, the meek creature on the stand was gone, replaced by a rather loud reaccount by a near-hysterical quadruped. Luckily, he managed to retain his coherence enough that Ven could understand what he was coming across with.

"One of the Espeon was right there- On the ground, with a broken leg, long dead from several savage gashes along her body! She wasn't dead yet, but…"

he growled a little. "The perpetrator was right there, walking toward her like something out of a nightmare. One look and the wind cut the innocent victim till she died. I would have confronted the murderer, but I was surprised, scared…- I'd seen what she could do. So I went and alerted the police."

He shook his head, fangs showing. "There's no question about it, it was the girl in the defendant's box that did this." He said, before taking a deep breath and sinking back down into his seat.

Alistair grinned like a snake.

"And that, as they say, is that." He said with a broad grin. He closed his eyes, pivoted, and snapped his fingers loud enough that Ven thought he saw stars for a second. "A perfect testimony!" he cried. "The moment of death, caught right there." He turned toward Ven, chucking a little.

"Now even you, my blank associate, would have to admit there's no room for second thoughts with testimony as clean-cut as that." He very nearly boasted, smiling.

The judge, to Ven's despair, seemed to agree. "Indeed." He muttered loud enough to be heard. "If we are to take this testimony as truth, there is no other way about it. The defendant is guilty."

The slowking turned towards Ven, who stood grimly quiet as he absorbed the information. "Do you wish to cross-examine the witness?" he inquired.

The pint-sized defense attorney nodded a bit. "Yes, Your Honor." He said quietly, tail briefly flicking as he mulled things over in his head.

'_He has to be lying somewhere.' _He thought to himself quickly. '_There's no way that Ceii could be innocent if he hasn't. So, I'll need to find something that can prove that… hm…' _He shifted a little, staring into Peter's eyes. The growlithe caught his intense gaze, and once more returned to a meek creature, looking back and forth. He looked towards Alistair, who nodded confidently at him, and gulped a little air in order to settle himself.

"Okay…" he started. "I was walking by the forest where the murder took place when-"

"Stop right there, please." Ven said quickly, his blue eyes still intense. The growlithe flinched a little, his voice wavering briefly.

"E-erm, did I do something wrong?" he stuttered out. Alistair tsked a couple times and waggled a finger in Ven's direction.

"My albine-coat fellow, I must object to your treatment of our witness. He's just telling us what he saw, after all." The gallade said with confidence.

He chuckled a little to the side, as if aware it was rather rude to do in a court of law. "I'm afraid I can't allow you to bully him. After all, he's just been through a very traumatic experience."

The judge nodded passively. "Indeed. The defense will be penalized for unnecessary badgering of the witness. Is that clear?" he added with a glower. Ven flinched a little beneath it.

'_What? For Celebi' sake, all I did was tell him to stop testifying.' _He thought to himself, before shaking it off and turning to Peter once more.

"Now, Peter. Would you mind clarifying why you were out walking that day?" he questioned. "The murder took place quite late in the night. It would be quite unusual for one to go on a walk around that time." He reasoned, interested in the response.

Peter hesitated for a second, briefly seeming uncomfortable. Not that this was different from what he usually seemed like, but Ven mentally took note of it. The fire hound shook his head.

"Just out for a night stroll." The growlithe said, with a shrug of his shoulders. Ven shook his head.

"Are you in a habit of taking nightly strolls around the outskirts of town?" he inquired, pressing with a slightly sharper tone. Peter seemed to notice the pressure, and smiled uneasily, glancing back and forth.

"W-well… yes, actually… hehe…" he said with a weak chuckle. "My job has me wake up early in the morning, but sometimes I get up a little too early… so I spend the time just on a stroll… just to relax and prepare myself for the long day, uhm, you know?" he said with a failed attempt to be casual, tail still wagging in the same pressured manner that it had been doing so until then.

Ven frowned a little. For some reason, something seemed a little… off, about that.

"So, you were trying to unwind by taking a walk, then…?" he said suspiciously.

Peter blinked a couple times, his tail flicking nervously. "Uhm… I guess… yeah, that'd be about right…" he muttered.

Ven finally cracked a smile.

Alistair frowned. "My canvas of a cohort, would you be inclined to inform the rest of the court on the purpose of your line of questioning?"

He paused, closed his eyes, and put a finger between his eyes. "I see it… an irrelevant line of inquiry by a desperate defense attorney." He said, cracking a smile.

Ven shook his head a little, and pulled from a nearby folder, helpfully organized by Tiris earlier, a few documents. He called over the bailiff, and handed him the document. "I'd like to submit a piece of evidence for the court's consideration in light of the newest addition to our witness' testimony…" he said calmly.

The judge visibly stifled a yawn as he picked up the papers from his desk. "It is appears to be the weather data from last night." He deduced after a cursory glance, flicking through it quickly as if to assure himself it didn't contain anything else.

Alistair sneered. Ven shook his head. "Indeed. Between 1:12 and 1:57, approximately of course, it was raining that night. Hardly the kind of weather for a pleasure stroll."

Peter blinked, his mouth forming into the shape of a couple works, before he abruptly looked taken aback.

The gallery started talking amongst themselves again, as the judge banged his gavel. Alistair ignored both, leaping back into the fray viciously, his eyes blazing a far darker blue than usual. "You call that evidence?" he snapped. "The solution here is beyond obvious. Obviously it started raining –after- he witnessed what he did." He sneered and shook his head. "I would say it was a simple rookie mistake, but to be sure, any halfwit greenhorn could see such a glaring flaw." He muttered, chuckling to himself.

"Objection." Ven responded mildly. Alistair blinked and glanced upward. Ven removed a second object from his folder; this one was a picture, of what appeared to be muddy ground. "I'm afraid that's rather impossible."

"…I don't see your point." Alistair protested mildly, though he looked slightly deflated in that Ven didn't seem in any way worried. The albino shook his head.

"These are the footprints left by the victim and the defendant." He explained. Alistair shrugged, once again smirking smugly. "And I'll ask you again, what's the point?"

Ven chuckled to himself. "You don't see it, Alistair? I would think it's obvious, but… as for why it couldn't have rained afterwards… well, the very existence of the footprints is proof enough, isn't it?"

Alistair growled a little. "What are you- ah…" he said, blinking twice as he quickly got the quadruped's point. He slowly crossed his arms, silent, but observing his opponent with a deep indigo stare.

The Judge seemed a little perplexed, but shrugged. "I'm afraid I do not follow. Would you mind explaining it for the benefit of the entire court?" he asked with only the barest hint of impatience. If anything, Ven figured he was starting to warm up to him.

"Of course, your honor. You see… these footprints are rather obvious. Too obvious to usually be left in the ground. Generally, they'd be misshapen or warped by the winds or elements… but these were not. For one simple reason."

He smirked. "Footprints tend to me much more resilient… when they're made in mud."

The Judge paused, then chuckled a little to himself. "Ah. Now I see it… since the footprints were left in mud, they would have had to have been made while the ground was wet. It had to have been raining either prior to the murder, or during it." He quickly explained for the benefit of the court record.

Alistair had quickly snapped to attention. "I cannot believe that even a trust legal official such as you, Your Honor, is playing party to these frivolous claims." He objected, once more back at attention. "There are a billion reasons that the footprints could have been left in mud. It was within a forest, which could keep the soil damp for weeks. That is simply not conclusive evidence." He said, staring daggers at Ven, who returned them in kind.

"There's another reason the murder could not have happened after the rainfall." He protested, withdrawing yet another picture from his folder. He displayed it to the court, who all seemed to recognize it.

"The victim's body?" Alistair scoffed, though he seemed more wary of retaliation this time. It seemed that he had quickly learned that Ven indeed had some claws on him.

Ven shook his head. "Not the body, but what's around it. At least contributing to the victim's death was acute blood loss… much of which can be seen pooled around her corpse." He explained. Peter was starting to look a little ashen in the face, and Ven wondered briefly whether it was due to the picture he held or for some other reason.

"And…?" Alistair inquired. "You certainly have a habit for taking your time with explanations." he added, in a complaining tone.

Ven shook his head. "The pool is intact. The blood can clearly be seen around the body… if it had rained before hand… this would be impossible." He said calmly. "The blood would have dissolved into the ground, and along the various streams of water.

"That's aruab-" Alistair started, before the Judge banged his gavel.

"I've seen enough." He said gravely, before glancing towards Alistair.

"While it is true that none of the evidence is indisputable… the volume of it alone is enough to cast doubt on the contents of the witness' testimony." He decided finally, banging the gavel decisively.

Alistair scowled, but blinked quickly, regaining his composure. "Very well, your honor." He conceded, before glancing at Peter, who was now starting to get nervous. "Well, witness? Do you have an explanation for this discrepancy?" he said in a droll tone. "Or did you indeed knowingly go out for a walk in the rain?"

The growlithe paused, glanced downward, and looked back up. While he still shifted a little nervously, he seemed slightly more sure in himself, as if a cloud of fog had been lifted.

"Well… actually…" he started, seeming almost as surprised about it as anyone else was, "I remember now. It wasn't raining when I went out for my walk, but-"

"That's impossible." Ven cut in. Alistair quickly pivoted once more, snapping loudly and causing both Ven and the witness to recoil out of shock for their ears. Alistair shook his head.

"It's too early for objections, my alabaster ally. I'd suggest you allow our witness to continue." He said in a flat tone, strangely lacking in emotion. Ven blinked a little.

'_Looks like he's changed his game.' _He heard Tiris whisper mentally, his ear twitching out of instinct. _'Maybe he realized that trying to knock you off your game wasn't working. I'd be careful. It seems like he's more serious this round…'_ she added.

Peter blinked, his bushy tail once again flicking gently. "Uhm, could I continue?" he said mildly. Alistair nodded. "Please do." He commented.

The fire nodded to himself and cocked his head. "Well… it wasn't raining when I left, see. But when I saw the murder happen… it was."

He hesitated. "I think I was just heading home, because of the rain when it happened. Considering the pool of blood wasn't smeared by the weather… I guess it must have stopped soon after that." He hazarded, despite not seeming that convinced. Ven blinked as he noticed the dog's irises for once. Was it usual for a canine's pupil to look so… ragged, he wondered? The edges were almost entirely blurred out, and it didn't look remotely healthy.

Alistair nodded, and glanced toward Ven. "There you are. An explanation. It simply rained while he was walking, not before he started. Therefore, there is no contradiction." He said breezily.

Ven eyed Alistair carefully. Something felt off about his sudden personality change, though he couldn't place just what. He shook it off for now; the prosecutor's eccentricities were nothing to pay attention to at the moment.

He sighed, and thought to himself. _'Is it just me, or does Peter seem less convinced of that testimony than I am?' _He eyed the other quadruped, who shifted uneasily on his stool. Things were increasingly not adding up in this case…

"Peter." He said calmly. "There's one major contradiction in that testimony." He said carefully. He didn't need to think on this one too much. The evidence he needed had already been displayed.

"You said that the rain had started up, and you were heading home, correct?" he questioned. Peter nodded.

"In that case, I'd direct you to the weather data once more…" he continued, pointing to the relevant data on his copy with a paw. "It rained, consistently, between 1:12 and 1:57. That's over forty minutes. In order for the rain to have started and stopped at the time you said it had, you would have been out for that long."

He eyed him icily. "I somehow doubt it would have taken you forty minutes just to walk back to where the forest was, the walk to the gym alone is not exactly short. So tell me, if you were out at that time… where were you during that interval?" he demanded.

The growlithe paused.

The entire court was silent for a moment.

Peter Freyd hesitated. "I… don't know."

Ven paused for a second, puzzling on this. A witness admitting that he didn't know about his own whereabouts was… interesting. "What? What do you mean, that you don't know?"

The growlithe shrugged. "Mister Attorney, I'm only telling you what I know. I didn't notice being out in the rain for forty minutes, and I can't remember going anywhere else. My testimony as I told you… it's all I recall." He said passively. His tail seemed to settle down, as if he was on less pressure. He smiled a little bit again. "In fact, I don't even remember why I went to that forest. It's not on my usual route. I generally don't go away from the city, in fact. Seems kind of odd, now that I think about it." He hummed to himself.

Ven hesitated and looked back, looking puzzled. He glanced up at the judge, who had a curious expression, as if wondering where he would take this. He glanced over at Alistair, who regarded him coldly and utterly without emotion.

'_Guess I'm on my own for this,' _he figured. He blinked. _'But wait. There's still one thing that doesn't really add up…'_.

"Witness…" he said quickly, though not with much certainty. He was still working on a hypothesis, but the ideas that came to mind were quite intriguing.

"Before you were introduced, Mister Alistair made note that you had been –personally- impacted by the events that had conspired yesterday. As a battle instructor, I find it difficult to believe you would be so heavily phased by violence… would you mind explaining this to the court?" he inquired.

Peter blinked. "Well… of course I shouldn't be, but, you know…" he muttered, both losing confidence and looking more and more puzzled by the second. "It just happened so fast that, uhm, I guess I just sort of panicked. It's the first real time I've observed a death, I suppose."

Ven pressed on. "But from the sounds of it, the killing blow wouldn't have had any real physical signs aside from blood loss. You wouldn't be squeamish at the sight of blood, you see it practically every day."

The witness seemed at a lost. "Er… I guess you're right… hm…" he muttered to himself again, louder and with more frequency than before. "…Why did I react so strongly?" he questioned himself.

Alistair crossed his arms. "Your Honor, this circus is getting us nowhere. I formally request we drop this line of dialogue from the Record."

The judge, however, shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Alistair." He said gravely. "These questions appear to be relevant to sorting out the reliability of the witness' testimony. However, I'm afraid if this continues much longer without adequate resolution, I will have to dismiss Peter Freyd from the stand." He added.

Ven nodded to himself. _'I can't allow that to happen.' _He figured immediately. _'This witness gave me possibly the only lead I have here… to finding the real killer.' _He thought with a smirk. It was a crazy idea, but… what the heck.

"Peter." He said in a determined tone. The witness blinked and looked up at him, eyes shining with obvious questions. "Tell me… when you left in the morning, what time was it?"

The canine paused, and apparently thought to himself. "I… couldn't tell you. I'm sorry. I don't remember." He said, with drooped ears. Ven nodded to himself, and smirked.

"Peter. I'm not sure if you know about this yourself, but… we have evidence you were there that night. See here." He added, quickly pulling a sketch from his folder of a large pawprint.

"These were found a fair distance from the scene of the crime, probably passed over by the detectives because they were so different from the other prints around… as you can see, they're much too big and bulky to be of an Espeon, like the victim and defendant are."

The witness nodded. Alistair scoffed. "I tire of repeating myself, but exactly what does proving he was there have to do with anything? We're aware he was at the crime scene. He was the one to alert the police, if you don't recall."

Ven shook his head and chuckled. "And if you recall Alistair, every one of those times, I proved relevance. This shall be no exception." He said confidently, reaching into his bag for the final piece of evidence.

Alistair frowned.

The white eevee placed the evidence on the table. "This scrap of paper was found at the crime scene." He explained, handing it to the bailiff to give to the judge.

"Oh?" he said questioningly, as he read aloud. "Meet in our spot at midnight. I'll be waiting. Is this some sort of love note?" he guessed.

Ven nodded. "That would be my suspicion, yes, Your Honor."

Alistair sneered, though remained tepid. "And the relevance?"

Ven shook his head. "Two things, Alistair. The location, and the salutation. Like with all notes, this one was in the hands of two people… the writer, and the receiver. And I can prove both of them." He said confidently.

Alistair stared back at him, his eye color a fading lilac.

Ven smiled as he saw all eyes of the court were on him. He resisted wagging his tail. "First, the salutation. You'll note that there's a design near the bottom." He said quickly.

The Judge squinted, hmmed, and examined the paper closely. "It's some sort of abstract shape." He decided. "A flower? Maybe… an eye?" he said cryptically.

Ven smiled. "Actually your honor, the answer is… both." He smiled a bit. "This is not a design, but a signature… just not a conventional one. That lobed shape is quite clearly a flower, and the design adorning its petals is shaped in the way to make it resemble a specific part of an eye. The name for both, however, is the same, which I believe is the secret hidden in that design…"

He paused for dramatic effect, flicked his tail, and smirked. "The type of flower and design of the eye… are both of an Iris."

The Judge blinked. "But what does that have to- Ah… Iris…" he said, trailing off mid-sentence. He glanced back at Ven. "Then, you mean to say that this note…"

"…was written by the victim." Finished Ven.

The gallery started talking loudly amidst itself. The Judge blinked, reexamined the page, and nodded, quickly settled the chamber.

"I… see… I see how that could make sense, Venturio." He said after a few seconds. Ven winced at the sound of his full name. He heard the same bell-sounds indicative of Tiris' telepathic laughter in his head once more.

"But… do you have any proof?" the Judge inquired. Alistair sneered.

"Of course he doesn't. He's grasping. The doodle is just that… a doodle. I, for one, don't even see the shape allegedly included upon it." He muttered, shaking his head.

Ven smirked to himself. Alistair frowned again. Ven was beginning to like that expression on his face.

"It's very simple, Your Honor. All we need is another letter written by the victim in order to confirm it was her. A handwriting analysis would more than likely identify both written by the same individual." He claimed. The Judge blinked. "Of course… that would clear things up, would it not…" he muttered to himself.

Ven shook his head. "There is, however, the matter of the receiver of the note…" he continued. "And this one is much simpler to solve. It's a simple matter of location and timing… the only one who could have dropped the note… would be the owner of these footprints."

He indicated the prints sketched by him. "The note was found next to them, wet and muddy." He said, grinning.

Alistair was emotionless once more. He snapped his fingers loudly again, though without the pivot this time around. "Could it not have simply been blown in the wind?" he asked, almost in a bored tone. "Just because it was there when it was found, doesn't mean it was always there.

Ven shook his head. "It was muddy and wet, Alistair." He said almost condescendingly. "Not destroyed. The ink ran, the paper stained… but, after forty minutes, I find it impossible that a scrap buffeted by the wind would stay undamaged, let alone legible. This was dropped during the rain. There are only three sets of prints found in the forest, the Victim, the Defendant, and Peter's. The Victim and Defendant were far from Peter's mark, and downwind. It is highly unlikely the paper could have conveniently made it form there to its later spot… no, it is almost entirely likely that it was dropped where it was found. And, of course, since Peter's pawprints are the only ones around it, the only logical conclusion of who possessed the paper was…"

He glanced at the defendant, who blinked in shock. "Me? But I… I never had that sort of thing. I never even met the defendant, Iris, right?" he said quickly, but slowed down towards the end, as if he didn't know what he was saying. His eyes almost seemed to glaze over, and he painfully shut them.

Ven shook his head. "Peter, it makes sense." He said aloud. "You received the note from Iris… and because of so, we can assume you two were rather close. This would explain your personal mental shock at her death." He said sure of himself, only vaguely aware he was more or less making this up on the spot.

To his surprise, Peter nodded and didn't deny it.

"…And so, you went to the forest, possibly a part of it known as a meeting spot for the two of you. That explains not only why you went there outside of your routine, but also why Iris, a high-class Espeon without reason to enter the wilds, would be murdered in such an obscure location." He continued. He paused, his tongue caught. But… what after that? What could have happened?

Peter nodded, but then shook his head. "What you're saying… it sounds like it should be right, but… it's nothing like I remember." He said with a troubled expression on his face.

Alistair shook his head. "My long-winded compatriot, your tale makes no sense, since it's missing one pivitol point; Why would our good witness bother to lie about such things? He saw what he did, which is completely contrary to what you're saying. Therefore, according to the very basic rules of law, you are incorrect. QED. Class dismissed." He said dismissively.

Ven blinked as a hazy thought entered his mind. Something that had passed his thoughts at the beginning of the court session, when things were just starting up and he had allowed his thoughts to scatter…

…_reading about several old cases in which a human was able to fabricate entirely new memories for himself…_

"…There is one explanation." He said calmly. "A very simple one that explains one very major contradiction that you failed to mention, Alistair." He said sharply. The gallade blinked curiously.

"Oh?" he said, looking somewhat guarded.

"The discrepancy in time from when it rained… the contradictory recollections… and his current in-court jitters and loss of surety. There is only one explanation."

Ven said finally.

"Peter Freyd's very memories have been tampered with by a third party."

The court exploded in uproar.


	39. Xanatos Ambush

**Act 3 – Death in the Family**

**Chapter 8  
**

Ven glanced warily down the streets as he walked somewhat briskly down the cobblestone roads of Rustboro. It was starting to get dark and cool, dusk quickly approaching, though he last rays of the sun still extended from the tops of the furthermost forests, long hidden by the ridges of buildings and other human constructs from around the centuries. A light fog had settled on the ground, obscuring everything ever-so-slightly. Though the eevee's vision wasn't particularly inconvenienced, it was still annoying.

He was out to pick up Ember, and he hoped the charmander wouldn't be annoyed at him for leaving her at the gym for so long. She'd opted to stay there when he explained that the courthouse would probably be boring, and there wouldn't be much for her to do- now he somewhat wished he'd had her stay, so he wouldn't have to bring her up to speed on the latest developments in the proceedings.

Oh, and he wouldn't have had to walk across the city when it approached the dark either. Rusboro wasn't a particularly corrupt city, but it WAS fairly large, and thus somewhat unsafe to be around unprotected and alone when night began to fall. Especially for him, a well-known shiny eevee with a lot of money at his disposal.

Shaking off his fears, he thought back briefly to the last actions that had occurred in the court before he had left. In summation, not much of consequence- with one key fact. He'd manage to get another day.

"_I believe…" The Judge had said once everyone had calmed down sufficently. His bluish-grey eyes surveyed everyone with a gaze that suddenly seemed a lot less like a bumbling authority figure, and much closer to the elder psychic that he was. Even his shell helmet seemed to gleam, the red stone set in the center glowing with austere power and mysticism._

"…_that there has been sufficient doubt cast upon the circumstances of this case to merit a second day of investigation. Does the defense agree?" he asked, glancing towards Ven._

_Ven nodded vigorously. "Yes, your honor. I think this case goes deeper than we first thought."_

"_Hm." The Judge considered, nodding. "I believe you are correct to assume as such. Does the prosecution agree with the motion of postponing judgment for the moment?"_

_Alistair shook his green head, chuckling to himself into the palm of his pale hand. Ven frowned- just a few moments ago, he thought he'd had the opposing lawyer on the ropes. Now he was chuckling again? Was he trying to throw him off his game once more?_

"_I believe… this entire thing has been largely blown out of proportion." The gallade mused. "The defense is deeply mistaken about his view on the defendant's bias. However, I am willing to agree with the motion, in the name of quelling the chaos caused by his strange hypothesis." _

_He crossed his arms. "In the rare possibility he is correct, an extra day could possibly provide the evidence I was mistaken, and reveal the truth. If he is, like I believe, nothing more than a bumbler and an upstart, then an extra day will make no difference to me. And thus, I agree with the motion."_

_The Judge nodded, and banged his gavel. "And thus, court is dismissed for the day."_

_With that word, there was a shuffle as the audience once again talked amongst themselves, weaving around the seats and heading out the door. The judge paused and glanced at Ven, chuckling briefly._

"_On a more personal note, Ven, I'm frankly surprised you didn't bring your new mate here. I've heard all about her."_

_Ven paused, taken aback. "Uh, w-what was that, sir?" he muttered, shocked since he himself hadn't known he had a new mate until a day ago. Tiris behind him had gotten up, and gave him an amused look._

You were a big help_, he thought. _You barely did anything.

'_You looked like you could handle it.' She responded, her 'voice' a little lighter than he remembered it. It seemed like she was pleased by how the proceedings had gone on._

"_Oh, you didn't know?" the judge said in surprise, cocking his head slightly. He chuckled. _

"_I'm not one for gossip, you know, but it's the hottest topic at the moment." He said with a chuckle. "Even moreso than this court case, I'm sorry to say. Incidentally, you wouldn't happen to have a kantonian harem of treecko, would you?"_

_Ven blinked, at this point more weirded out than anything, and shook his head._

"_Hm, fair enough. I expected that part was a slight embellishment. In any case, I must be off. Good luck with the investigation." He called as he waddled from the courtroom at a leisurely pace. He was a bit short for a slowking, Ven noticed, without the judge's plinth to make him seem so tall._

_He paused for a second, and sighed. The judge had heard about his mate? Oh dear. Shira had told him the gossip would be incredible, but that was just short of ridiculous…_

Actually, he was starting to worry about the charmander's safety, he noted, probably part of the reason he decided to come directly to the gym to pick her up, rather than going over notes with Tiris or visiting Ceii again. It probably wasn't likely, but then again, he'd known some of his suitors to be rather insane. It just took one…

Since the charmander hadn't had anywhere to live in Rustboro, he'd given her a room in his house, which had the bonus of encouraging the implication they were romantically involved. Ven was surprised by the effectiveness of the maneuver- very few females had tried talking to him since he was out. He'd almost expected the opposite reaction from some of the people chasing after him, giving him more attention if he wasn't seen with his mate, in hopes of 'stealing' him off her.

Maybe he just miscalculated his fans' dedication, he mused.

He crossed a street corner, as one of the lamps was starting to go on in the darkness. A small shape caught the corner of his eye- something small and brown, down a long alley. He paused briefly to get a better look, and turned his head.

His neck was snapped suddenly backward by a huge force, a powerful that caused his vision to black out briefly as he was tossed over the street. Though he couldn't see it, he could hear in immaculate detail as the bricks of the street almost disintegrated at the touch of the massive reverberation that ran through them, shattering the mortar in a symphony of crackles and pops, splintering all over the bare bricks as they were thrown out of position.

Ven's body collided with the building beside him with a loud crack as he fell to the ground. His wounded side didn't hurt too much, which worried him, causing him to release a Wish instinctively- he couldn't feel anything on that side. He tried opening his eyes; his right eye was still blacked out, but he could see blearily out his left. The bug was approaching, not too quickly but with conviction, as a crackling ball of ectoplasmic matter appeared in its claws.

Acting instinctively again, Ven gathered the remaining dregs of his power into the best Protect he could manage, intercepting the ghostly ball before it could hit him. He cried out in pain as the nerve endings that weren't damaged rebelled against him- holding the protect was almost hurting more than the attack would have. Still, he was fairly sure the shadowball would kill him, while holding the protect was only _likely _to kill him.

He wasn't sure how long he held the protect against the surprisingly powerful attack, but he sighed in relief when the familiar golden energy washed over him. He grimaced as a chunk of it was siphoned off immediately to hold up the barrier, while he heard crackles and strange noises from his left side. From the strange feelings, he could tell he must have broken at least half the bones in his body during that fall; it was lucky that he managed a wish so quickly, before the damage was irreversible. Even now, he felt a tightness in his chest- the wish hadn't worked entirely, probably due to his keeping the lime-green barrier separating him from his assailant.

Finally, he let the dome fade, leaping out of the way of the Shedinja's retaliation. He sighted in relief as the pain subsided, then growled and gritted his teeth when a flame of agony abruptly burned in his chest, objecting to the physical exertion. He was lucky that the ghost insect was slow in turning, though it shot quickly; he used that to his advantage, trying to flank it.

The Shedinja, obviously wary of this, turned only slightly before it melted into a dark spot on the floor. Ven only had a moment to blink at this before he suddenly felt a harsh object collide with him, throwing him backward again against the wall, though thankfully without any telltail cracking. The Shedinja stood infront of him, charging another shadow ball. Ven squeezed his eyes, preparing to use protect again-

-And was surprised by a massive jet of flame that filled the alleyway, missing him entirely, but causing his aggressor to crackle loudly in what may have been an attempt at communication. Ven thought he saw a slight sparkle in the air shatter as the insect was consumed by the flames, eventually letting up to reveal a charred, unconscious body.

Eyes wide, Ven blinked in slight horror as a male houndoom approached him. Had he been thrown from one assailant into the arms of another? Especially if it was a pack leader. In that case, they might even have a personal grudge against him.

"You alright, Pup?" the creature asked, turning his gaze over at Ven. The eevee blinked, momentarily transfixed.

He wasn't entirely sure what it was. The houndoom's jade-green eyes were unusual, but not really that unsettling. Just looking at the face filled Ven's mind with ideas of harsh, cool music. A deep drawl of powerful instruments, the bellows of brass-wind instruments… just looking at him seemed to inspire the idea of soldiers with great moral heading to war.

Ven nodded.

The houndoom nodded, growling a little. "Good." He said, arrowhead tail twitching briefly. He scowled at the charred form of the insect, placing a paw on it as if to call it into battle again.

"Sick little things like this always think they can mess with my Pack." He snarled. "But upstarts always get burned. I can't just let them run around with the misconception they own the place, can't I?"

He chuckled a little to himself, and turned his head to the side, muttering as if into his shoulder. It took Ven a moment to realize that there was a small grey box there, attached loosely through a nearly invisible and threadlike collar. The houndoom was talking to someone?

That was odd, Ven reflected. He talked like one of the underground Houndoom clan leaders, but used human technology.

After a few moments, the houndoom glanced over back at him. He squinted briefly. "Don't I know you, Pup?" he questioned.

Ven blinked, uncomfortably. He probably WAS known to the criminal underbelly of Rustboro. "Well I'm-" he began, before being quickly cut off by the canine.

"Ah! I do know you!" he said with a victorious smirk, jade eyes gleaming brightly in the darkness of the alleyway. "You're Venturio. New lawyer, right? In the Ceii case?" he questioned. Ven blinked- that was a bizarre thing to know him from.

"Uh, yeah." The white eevee muttered. "How did you…" he shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't get your name… Thank you for the help, but…"

"Who am I?" the houndoom chuckled. The took a step forward; Ven tripped over himself as he took an involuntary step back, his prey-senses alarming him to quickly get away. Still, the houndoom didn't actually seem like he was going to hurt him.

"I'm who most of the criminals in this city pray isn't under their beds." He claimed, with a smirk. "I'm the defender of our little pack here, the city of Rustboro. I decide what goes on here…" he hesitated, "but you might know me more formally as Karma. Defense attorney and freelance investigator."

Ven blinked, squinting briefly. "Defense attorney?" he asked in mild disbelief. The creature, while rather heroic in taking down his assailant like that, didn't seem to him like the learned type.

Karma snorted. "Don't make the same mistake my enemies do. I'm far more cunning than I seem." he chuckled, glancing around.

"It's not safe here." He continued. "We'll need to get to somewhere more secure. I've got backup coming, but…" he trailed off briefly.

Ven nodded, getting up. He winced as he felt the tightness in his chest return- evidently that wasn't going away. Karma paused, walked over to him and briefly ran a paw over his body, noting when the eevee grimaced due to a tender patch. He nodded.

"You should be fine to walk." He said with a nod. "Just a broken rib. Nothing too bad." He said with a shrug, walking out onto the main street. Ven followed him as quickly as he could, though his paws still struck the cobblestones gingerly. Most of the alleyway was covered in shrapnel and soot, but the main street seemed to be relatively fine, even if the mortar had been blasted away in some patches.

He noted Karma wasn't heading in the direction that was towards the gym.

"Wait." He called, the houndoom pausing as he glanced back.

He responded snappily, "What? There could be more around. Best you get somewhere where you can rest up. I'm not slowing down".

"But, there's someone I need to pick up." Ven said quickly. "She might be in danger."

Karma paused briefly, glancing over his shoulder. "Family or mate?" he asked quickly. Ven shook his head the affirmative. Karma sighed. "Where?"

"The gym." Ven said quickly. Karma nodded, muttering, "Now I'm really not waiting up for you, considering we're doing a detour. Make sure you keep up." He said, before walking in a brisk pace towards the gym. He wasn't going very fast, but with his wound, Ven found it hurt to walk. He started glancing around to try and take his mind off it, but it didn't particularly seem like it was working.

"So, you're a defense attorney?" he asked, hoping to make conversation to take his mind of the searing pain in his chest.

Karma smirked. "Indeed. Probably the best pokemon lawyer you'll ever see, not that we're a large group anyway. I was going to take that case of yours, but you got it first I see."

Ven blinked. "You were going to defend Ceii?"

"The espeon? Course I was. She's innocent after all." He responded nonchalantly. Ven's eyes grew. "How do you know that?" he asked. "We don't exactly have much evidence in our favor…"

Karma chuckled. "Evidence? Who cares. I can just tell who's guilty and who's not. It's why I'm Pack Leader. Proving it is the only tricky part." He chuckled to himself. "You've got your work cut out for you, I hear."

Ven nodded. Karma also did so, albeit more grimly. "Well, I'll try to help you out as best as I can. I've faced Alistair a few times. Guy's a prick, but he generally gets the right verdict. Just don't let the smug snake get under your skin." He advised.

The albino quadruped sighed, but nodded. Tiris had said as much during the trial anyway. Though he though he largely managed to ignore the gallade's taunts, there was still a limit to how much one could tolerate in a courtroom.

The gym came into sight; it was a large building, made of the same period brick as all those around it, though in far superior condition. It shined like the day it was built, with a historic glow. Several large granite statues stood outside the building, depicting creatures like onix and golem. The entire building was attached to the much larger Rustboro University, whose' logo was prominently displayed on the head of the structure. All and all, it was rather intimidating.

Karma didn't care. Strutting right in with his head held high, he passed the automatic doors into the main chamber and immediately put his foot down. He snarled loudly, the sound echoing in the ovular building until everyone could hear it.

"Everyone shut up and pay attention." He growled out. Notably, everyone in the gym was looking at them. Ven felt somewhat self-conscious when he limped in, given that many of the trainers and pokemon in the room looked rather tough (though there appeared to be a surplus of geodude). Some looked like they were training incredibly vigorously as they entered, almost as if they were imagining taking revenge on someone that humiliating them- seeing them drop everything to look at Karma with a doe-eyed expression was somewhat surreal.

"We're looking for someone-" Karma started, though he needn't have bothered- a familiar orange shape was already making her way through the crowd towards the two, moving at a brisk pace. Possibly the only one not paying Karma a second glance, she immediately walked up to Ven with a bewildered expression, her eyes glancing quickly over his injured body. Ven tried to smile to reassure her- it didn't work.

"What happened to you?" she asked bluntly. Ven was about to respond, when Karma cut in.

"He was attacked, miss." He said gruffly. "Just a little ways down the road, coming to get you. Come on, here isn't safe". He muttered, exiting as fast as he came and walking down the road. Ember watched him leave for a couple seconds, before she turned her eyes onto Ven.

"Who the hell was that?" she asked, still seeming somewhat bewildered about the entire thing. She was still looking over his body, as if trying to see exactly how injured he was. She briefly touched his shoulder; Ven winced at the contact, the bruises under his pelt protesting, but secretly didn't mind that much. Her paws felt warm, though he wasn't sure if it was due to her being a fire type, or having been training for the last little while.

Ven stretched himself out the best he could without hurting himself, causing Ember to talk a half-pace to the side to get out of his way. "His name's Karma." He said after a second. "He's the one who saved my life." He clarified, turning to follow after the houndoom, briefly glancing over his shoulder to make sure the charmander was following too.

Ember's tone had lightened a little, as she walked perhaps slightly closer to him than strictly necessary. He still didn't mind- at the moment, Ven felt safer with a little companionship, especially since he knew Ember was at least proficient in combat.

"Mhm? I'll have to remember to thank him, later, then." She said, attempting to be casual. She still scrutinized him, Ven noted with slight discomfort. She seemed mildly angry, though Ven couldn't tell why she possibly would be, mixed in with a great deal of concern. It was a little more than he expected, Ven noted, but probably not too abnormal.

He smiled almost a little to himself when he realized what the truth must be- obviously, the charmander was getting into character as his mate. Very convincing, especially without needing to be prompted. Obviously, she was experienced at this sort of thing. Ven felt a lot more comfortable after that realization, even smiling slightly, despite the fact it hurt to do so.

There was a bit of a bark as Karma called back to them. "Hurry up! The Pack doesn't wait for its lame members." He cried, tail lashing. Ven wondered briefly what the exact danger was. He thought it would be rather unlikely he would be ambushed again with Karma and Ember right there, two competent fighters that would likely complicate anything. If someone wanted him dead, logically they'd wait out for a bit now.

Ember seemed about to say something, but stopped before she could do so. With a slight sigh of annoyance, she called back for the both of them. "Yeah, we're coming!" she yelled, with a minor hint of a growl to its undertones.

Ven picked up his pace slightly, which his rib didn't appreciate. He winced slightly. "He seems like an alright guy. If a bit impatient." He hazarded. He really didn't have much of an idea as to Karma's character yet, but he believed in Ceii, which had to amount to something.

Ember didn't really seem convinced. She shrugged her shoulders slightly, muttering "If you say so". Her tail lashed for a brief second behind her; the movement of the fire caught Ven's attention for a second, though he quickly recorrected his vision. Ember seemed to note him from the side of her eye, and she may have smiled briefly.

The eevee coughed slightly, thinking it might be pertinent to come up with another conversation topic. "Well, the case went better than expected. We didn't win, but we got another day."

"So there's hope? Good." The female charmander responded, honestly. Her smile flickered a little towards the end, "Why another day, though?"

Ven grunted noncommittally. "It's to allow both sides to gather more information now that we know more about the case. Long story short, we think there's a possibility there was a third person there, and he modified the witness' memory."

"But that's not enough to clear your sister, right?" Ember rationed, frowning a little in thought.

Ven shook his head slightly, one of the few actions that didn't cause pain to ripple through his body. "Cast doubt yes, but it won't clear her name."

The charmander sighed, glancing away briefly with her azure eyes. "Didn't think so. So what now? The only thing I can think of is to get some evidence this third person did the killing…"

"Obviously. I'd also like to know why I was attacked…" Ven started to respond, before trailing off. Over, right around the area where he was attacked, was a mass of yellow police tape. Karma stood, growling with his heckles raised at a particularly nervous-looking machop guarding the entrance area.

"Stand aside, whelp." Karma commanded. The machop nodded, and quickly opened the barricade, flinching a little as he did so. Karma strutted in like he owned the place, with the following pair slipping inside, unquestioned, in his wake. The guard noticeably sighed with relief when he re-established the barrier.

Ven glanced down with interest. In the center of the barricade was, indeed, the Shedinja that had attacked him, still charred and unconscious-seeming as ever. Two meditate, standing at either end of the ghostly insect, floated in the air with energy emitting from their palms, constructing a glossy, ovular barrier around the would-be assailant.

Ember blinked at the scene. Ven nudged her, whispering quickly, "that's the guy who attacked me".

"Oh good." The charmander delivered deadpan. Karma, meanwhile, was circling around the barrier, growling briefly like the ghost was going to pop up and attack at any second. He stopped, staring at the Shedinja.

"Speak, whelp." He said after a moment. Waiting a few seconds, he repeated, with far more venom and danger in his voice, "WHELP. I command you- SPEAK." He cried.

An aide, another machop, quietly spoke up. "Uhm… sir, it's unconscious…

Karma snarled, and turned on the aide with the full ferocity of his species, knocking the unfortunate fighting type to the ground and growling in his face. "I am quite aware of that. Do not challenge the leader's orders." He said, deadly quiet. The machop nodded madly, sweating bullets. Karma smirked, let him up, and strolled casually within the barrier.

"Whelp. SPEAK." He said with authority, within the confines of the oval circle of energy. Ven could have sworn his ears popped at the moment, with a sound reminiscent of static electricity pulsing through the air. The barrier went haywire, shifting around randomly before entirely disappearing, both of the medidite scrambling to recreate it in a couple seconds before their hostage could escape.

They had nothing to fear, however, as the insect simple convulsed in place, as if he was being tortured. He made a few strangled sounds, seemingly incomprehensible, every few seconds. Karma watched him impassively, as if it were an ordinary occurrence, and made no motion towards safety outside of the shield.

Eventually, the bug settled down and, almost as if without breath, responded.

"…what?" it asked, tired.

Karma smirked, his tail briefly twitching, looking somewhat smug. "Finally, you speak. Now then, explain yourself."

"…What?" the Shedinja repeated, no less confused.

The houndoom was quickly tiring of the game. He let a dangerous growl lace his words. "Explain. Yourself. Whelp." He said, articulating his words clearly.

Though Shedinja had no facial expressions to speak of, Ven quickly caught on that it was still confused. "I don't… what? What do I have to explain?" it croaked out. Ember sighed, rolling her blue eyes briefly. "I'm not surprised." She muttered.

"Oh?" Ven said quickly, looking at her. He intended to convey he was interested in her opinion, which she obviously picked up on rather quickly.

"Well, unless you have a theory you're not telling me, we can assume you were attacked because of your case, right?" she asked.

Ven nodded evenly. "That seems likely." He responded, already rather sure where this was going.

The charmander nodded with him. "Well then, it shouldn't be surprising that your assailant doesn't remember anything. It covers it's tracks." She said rationally. Ven frowned in thought for a moment.

"Though the question now is, who's 'it'?" he muttered out loud. Ember also grimaced briefly, but didn't respond.

Karma's expressions weren't nearly as subtle. He groaned loudly, even that including a growl.

"ANYTHING? Do you have ANYTHING I can use?" he questioned severely. The bug was silent.

"Well?!" Karma snarled loudly, baring his fangs. The Shedinja seemed to cringe a little. "If I said 'No', you'd get mad. And if I lied, you'd get even more mad." The creature said quietly.

Karma growled, but turned away. "Whatever. Take him away for further questioning and that crap." He muttered, before stalking off in a seemingly random direction. Ember blinked as he moved off.

"Are we supposed to follow?" she asked, looking at him. Ven shrugged.

"I guess." He muttered, before he started walking and doing just that. He paused and chuckled slightly. "So, how was your day?" he asked. Ember smirked slightly along the lips.

"Better than yours, I'm sure. For one, I didn't almost die."

"That would be a bonus." Ven agreed.

"So, how's… uhm… what's-her-name doing." Ember said unsurely. Ven cocked his head in questioning. Ember clarified a little, "Your sister. She was at the trial, right? How's she doing?"

Ven's ears drooped a little. "Not too great, I'm afraid." He admitted. Ceii seemed to be getting stringier, and losing more fur each day. He wasn't entirely certain how long it would be before she wasted away from having her telepathy locked.

The fire-type winced, and reached over to rub his neck in a mildly comforting manner. Ven purred a little. "I'm sure… it'll be okay." She said, not sounding entirely certain of herself.

Ven shook his head briefly, still purring from the neck rub. "It will be. I'll make sure it will be." He said certainly.

Ember smiled, a little. "Good."


	40. Rest and Xanatos

**Act 3 – Death in the Family**

**Chapter 9**

Ven had initially thought that Karma knew where he was going, and to the houndoom's credit, his pace seemed to suggest that he did. However, it was quickly evident to the eevee had they were going nowhere fast.

The burning sensation near his chest never went away, poking painfully at him every couple of steps, which made it all the more annoying when he noticed that he was being led around in circles around the city; even the charmander beside him who was gradually worsening in temperament, who'd never been to the city prior to this, could tell that they were moving in entirely pointless circles.

As such, he was exceptionally relieved when he noticed his dark-furred taskmaster sitting down, whipping his tail impatiently as he waited for the other to catch up, in front of the gate to Ven's home.

Though it brought a smile to his face, a small detail gave him momentary pause.

"Wait, how did you know this is my house?" he asked. "I never told you where it was-"

"-and what the hell took you so long to bring us here?" Ember interjected, letting her annoyance be evident in the tone of her voice.

The houndoom cocked his head in slight confusion, as if observing Ven to understand what he was saying.

"I don't follow. This is your home?" he said with a note of surprise in his voice, looking over at the mansion that easily dwarfed the similar structures peppered along the gated community. "Well, it's certainly large enough." He admitted.

He shrugged a little. "I was trying to shake any tailing assassins off our trail." He explained without a hint of sympathy for their tired glares at him. "Even if they weren't going to attack again soon, they would follow us to find out where you spend a large amount of time."

Ember glanced at the mansion briefly. "But, we're at his house now."

"Hm? Oh, coincidence I guess, I was going to ask you where you lived eventually." He said nonchalantly. Ember groaned and buried her face in her paws for a moment, while Ven muttered under his breath briefly.

"I think you're being a touch overcautious. Where I live isn't a secret."

"Well, maybe you should have said something earlier then." Karma said with a slight shrug. "Even so, you look like you could use the exercise." He said with a hint of a chuckle, pawing briefly at the cobble brick around him. He briefly glanced at the setting sun dipping beneath the horizon before he turned his attention back to the both of them.

"In any case, be up by eight tomorrow. I'm heading up the investigation now."

"Hm?" Ven said in mild surprise. He hadn't expected Karma to want to come along for the actual investigation, too, and was moderately reluctant to consider the idea. It was, after all, his case. He should be the one doing the work on it.

"…Uhm, well I appreciate the help, but-" he started, as Karma cut him off.

"No buts," he said with a wolfish grin. "I wanted in on this case to begin with, and now that you need bodyguards to keep assassins from wrecking up your pretty pelt, I've got a reason to stick around. Besides, I want a whack at this witness that allegedly doesn't remember anything."

"The growlithe?" Ven asked briefly.

"The shedinja." Ember said undertone, near simultaneously, before giving Ven a brief look.

Karma shook his head in dismay. "No, pups, I mean the defendant herself. She obviously saw something, and is being framed for it." He chuckled to himself. "Well anyway, catch forty and be up and ready for tomorrow. If you're not here, the pack doesn't wait. Later." He said turning around to an arbitrary direction and stalking off with his arrowhead-tail flicking briefly.

Ven shook his head as Ember muttered to herself. "Maybe if he was a little clearer when he labeled people…" she said before trailing off, following Ven as he opened the gate to his property and started down the path that lead to his front door.

"…I still can't believe he walked us around town for HOURS for no reason." She said bitterly. Ven chuckled to himself and shook his head, one of the few actions that didn't cause his body to freeze in pain. At this point, he thought he was starting to get used to it, until he took another step and his body inflamed once more.

"I'm honestly too tired to be angry," he responded numbly.

"You?" Ember said incredulously, "I spent all day training BEFORE the several hour walk," as she walked up stone steps that led to the main door of the building. After Ven dragged himself up the slabs of mason rock, he forced himself to give the female lizard a weary smirk.

"Yeah, but you didn't walk that distance with a broken rib." He murmured, as he preformed the complex series of motions that allowed him to open the door without reaching up for the door handle.

Ember was silent for a second, and then smirked. "Hey, don't one-up my suffering. I want to complain."

Ven chuckled to himself, then stopped as a new arrival approached him. It took a second for him to recall who it was, but when he did, he smiled a bit.

"Hello Cerberus. It's been a while." He greeted the grey-furred umbreon, who bowed respectfully in response.

"Hello Master Ven, Miss Ember. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, as always. It has been far too long since I have had the pleasure of serving you, Master Ven. Is there anything I could do for either of you at the moment?"

Ven resisted a chuckle at the umbreon's sake. Cerberus was technically a member of their family –he was Shira's mate, after all-, but he always seemed to act and function as a butler even if he wasn't getting paid for it. He hadn't realized it, but since Shira was living with him now, of course Cerberus would also be here- that would make a lot of things easier around the house.

He wasn't sure if Ember had seen him during her stay last night, but either way, she immediately launched into a list of requests.

"A hot towel, a sandwich, and somewhere quiet please," she said after a moment's consideration. Cerberus' eyes flicked back to observe the eevee, and he winced again as a particularly painful pang ran through his chest.

"The same, except exchange the towel for some bandages please. I've broken something in my chest. Nothing serious, but it's pretty painful…" he muttered.

Cerberus, to his credit, let curiosity betray his features only for a split second before it returned to his regular servile neutrality. "Of course, sir, madam. I shall attend to you with all due swiftness," he said before making his way to the main kitchens.

Though he really just wanted to drop prone on his bed as soon as possible, Ven figured he'd best wait to get patched up. He turned and walked towards a nearly lounge-area, followed by Ember as she glanced around slightly curiously. He chuckled briefly at the memories of her expressions when she'd seen the place for the first time, before managing to pull himself up onto an expensive-looking chesterfield. He immediately leaned to one side as to not put pressure on the injured part of his body, and covered that portion up instinctually with his tail.

Ember entered the room, but paused when he pulled himself up, glancing around briefly in an extremely awkward manner. Though at the moment Ven was fighting to keep awake, he still noticed this rather quickly. "Hm? What's wrong?" he muttered after a moment.

"Nothing…" she said, somewhat evasively, her tail flame swishing from one side to the other. "Do you need space?" she questioned.

Ven stifled a yawn. "I'm not sleeping here. Well, not if I can help it at least. Just try not to touch my bad side."

Ember nodded as she climbed up beside him, tail hanging off the side so as to not light anything on fire. "Got it," she said, glancing at the side covered with his tail, her gaze resting on the appendage slightly longer than necessary.

Ven nodded to himself, glancing briefly over at Ember. He realized that he really hadn't seen many charmander before; they were a rare species, particularly around Hoenn, despite their various mountain regions and warm climate. Her claws were calloused and tough, obviously having seen a lot of use. Unlike a sneasel or other clawfighting species, you couldn't really see how dangerous they were until they were readied in a battle-stance; until then, they just seemed like rather dexterous appendages, with perhaps a rough edge to them.

As interesting as her claws were, Ven felt more drawn to her head. Her rather large eyes had a touch of reptilianism to them, and looking at them for a few seconds, he could almost see the pupil expand and contract, almost seeming to spin very slightly in place like a two-dimensional black plate, to the tiniest changes in light. Circling that was a ring of bright, sky-blue, far more vibrant than his own eyes. It was interesting- Ven knew that his eye color was due to his body's lack of pigment, which is why they sometimes seemed to glow red in insufficient light. But Ember's was a natural shade, which somehow seemed to have more body and flush than his own, making them far more pleasant to look at it.

And then there were the small fangs that sometimes poked out from under her mouth. Things like that terrified him; as a prey animal, his inner instincts made his heart race when he saw pointed teeth like that. And yet, combined with her otherwise unthreatening appearance…

Ven was knocked out of his appraisal when he noticed something blue enter his range of vision, and blinked when he saw the vaporeon walk in.

"Oh, hi Ceila," he said, smiling. He was still tired, but seeing his long-lost sister still didn't fail to bring a grin to his face.

"Hey Ven. Didn't hear you come in." she said with a friendly grin.

"Did you need anything?"

"Hm? Oh, no, just a little lonely," she admitted. "Shira doesn't let me go into the city alone, Orin comes and goes, and Mateo isn't here for some reason."

She noticed Ember as the fire-dwelling reptile looked up, and glanced curiously at Ven. "Hey, Ven, who's she?" she asked, "I haven't noticed her around."

"Oh, she's…" he paused to himself, thinking about the most proper way to put it. Their arrangement wasn't exactly something common, and he really wasn't in the mood for a long-winded explanation.

"Just say mate." Ember said tiredly before Ven could respond. "It's easier."

"It's complicated." Ven appended, as Ceila's ears perked up. "You have a mate now?" she said excitedly, grinning. Ember shook her head briefly at Ven, as he hesitated again in his explanation.

"Just tell her yes. It's easier," she muttered.

Ven sighed, a hint of resignation in his voice. "Alright, she's my mate." He admitted. He paused as a thought wormed its way in.

"Wait, Ceila, weren't you here when Shira explained this? I mean, you were in another room, but only like a couple feet away…" he muttered, observing the blue eon suspiciously. Ceila chuckled a little to herself, with an embarrassed shrug. "Well, I wasn't really listening, since I didn't really know what you were talking about. Hell, I'm still coming to terms with this city. It's been a while since I've been around civilization of any sort."

Ember sat up briefly, shifting her tail across the couch to the other side and accidentally brushing by the handrest. She winced briefly, until she realized that the material adamantly refused to catch fire, and shrugged. "Why's that?" she asked Ceila.

"It's a long story," the vaporeon responded, her tail flicking briefly. "Essentiallly I spent most of my life on a deserted island before coming here. That was a little less than a month ago… it's still a lot to cope with."

"Doesn't really sound like a long story to me."

"Well, that's why I said 'essentially'" Ceila shot back.

Ven glanced over at Ember, who was still regarding Ceila. "Ceila's the twin of my other sibling. The one who's one trial." He explained in a somewhat hushed tone. Ember blinked, her tone falling briefly. "Oh…"

Ceila's expression also fell, and she shook her head sadly slightly. "Don't remind me. I didn't even get to see my sister before the police arrived. She doesn't even know I'm still alive yet."

Ember elected not to say anything, and instead reached over to rub one of Ven's ears, who didn't protest. The white eon quickly decided to change the topic.

"So… Mateo's gone missing then?" he questioned. Ceila nodded slightly, gaining a slightly puzzled expression. "Yeah. It's odd, usually when he's out, he comes back pretty quickly. It's not like him to be out so long."

The orange lizard thought this over for a second, before glancing at Ven. "Is Mateo a glaceon?" she asked. Ven paused, and nodded. "Yeah he is, though I haven't seen him recently. He used to live in Rustboro, but I guess he moved in around the same time as Shira."

"You're related?"

"Yeah. Twins, actually. There's a lot of us in our family."

Ember's blue eyes blinked in realization. "So that's why he seemed familiar…" she muttered to herself, the tip of her tail briefly twitching.

Ven forced himself not to look at her tail as it moved; the flame at the end acted as a shiny lure. "You've met him?"

"In the loosest meaning of the phrase, yeah. He came around the gym with a friend of mine."

"Hmm….," the albino thought to himself. "Well, if you've seen him around with others, he's probably not in any trouble. I wouldn't worry about it."

Ceila sighed slightly. "I guess."

There was a slight knock as Cerberus entered, tapping the side of the wall with his paw when he made his way in, expertly co-ordinating a plate of sandwiches held in his maw with a towel arranged on his back, with the bandages expertly stacked on them. Placing the plate between Ven and Ember, he handed the charmander her towel before her turned to Ven.

"Sir, Madam." He said with a polite bow before he took the bandages in his mouth and in a moment, became an attentive medic, moving Ven's tail out of the way as he probed his side painfully, preparing it with some gauze from a small tube he carried.

Ember grabbed one of the morsels from the plate and ate ravenously. Ven also took one, though his bites were tiny nibbles in between lances of pain sent up his chest by Cerberus' paw. Ceila chuckled at their expressions.

"Both of you seem so tired," she observed. "Any particular reason?"

Ember, in the middle of her sandwich, answered first. "Well, I spent most of the day at the gym-" she took a gulp of food before continuing "-And then spent the last few hours walking around the city pointlessly."

Ven chuckled, though it was cut off quickly by another prod by Cerberus. "I spent the day in court, narrowly survived being killed using highly tiring self-preservation techniques, then spent the last few hours walking around the city pointlessly with a broken rib." He said before taking a sizable bite of his sandwich, which he nearly choked on when Cerberus caused another lance of pain.

Ember shook her head and grinned slightly mischievously. "I said stop one-upping me," she said in mock annoyance while grinning a little, "it makes me seem whiny."

"Well, at least you two have the best bed in the house." Ceila said nonchalantly. "Which is certainly saying something."

"You tested them all?" Ember said with amusement.

Ceila gave a slight chuckle. "Not quite, but I have checked the ones in the guest rooms and Ven's room. They're both good, but the second is stuffed with clouds or something."

Ember stared slightly as she considered that statement, while Ven felt Cerberus make the final painful adjustment on his bandages and the final snap. "Speaking of my bed, I think that's where I'm going to head. Ember, you remember where your room is, right?"

"I'm amazed I found the door this morning," Ember said, shaking her head. Ven chuckled a little.

"Well, Ceila can help you then. Your room is right next to hers, I think."

Ceila shook her head briefly, chuckling to herself. "What, so you two don't share a bed?"

Ven chuckled a little to himself. "Well, it's complicated. Night." He responded before Ember had the chance to say anything, and exited the room. Though he still felt the burn in his side, it was better with the bandages on it. He heard Cerberus come up near him.

"Master Ven. I must advise you… you have a broken rib. It's not serious, but if you do not give it adequate time to heal, it will be painful for you for a very long period of time indeed. It needs to set properly."

Ven nodded. "Yes, yes Cer, thank you."

Cerberus nodded as they came up to the door to Ven's room. "Drink plenty of fluids. I shall arrange to bring your morning meal to your bed tomorrow and will impose it upon Mistress Shira that you are to be let go from your usual appointments and expectations for the next little while."

"_Good night_, Cer." Ven said with a hint of annoyance in his tone. Cer evidently heard it, as he bowed and got out of the way.

Ven smiled a little as he entered his room. It was large, luxurious, and had a bed that could hold a creature twenty times his size. As he climbed to the head, he sighed in relief now that he could finally relax. He had a million and one things to think about it, but as he closed his eyes, they allabruptly vanished as he faded into dreamless sleep.

* * *

The female lizard snuck into Ven's room later, the morning rays already pouring through large window pane that lied above the massive bed. She paused for a second to appreciate the sheer size of the room; it wasn't so much a single bedroom, as it was an all-inclusive hotel suite. A kitchenette lied to one side, and though the gargantuan bed that made up the center took up a large portion of the room, a separate component was still available as a makeshift living area. A large flat-screened TV sat in a corner, with the remote nowhere in sight, and the carpet felt exceptionally soft against the flexible scales covering her soles.

It took her a moment, but she eventually identified Ven as the comparatively tiny ball of fur lying in the center of the giant mattress, as she quickly walked over and climbed up top. It was rather elevated, and even excepting that, unusually tall- without jumping, she couldn't even grab the top with her claws. Moving her tail so that the flame wouldn't contact with the linens and cloths beneath, she walked over to the bundle in the center.

"Ven. It's time to get up." She said next to his ear, before pausing blankly as he showed quite literally no reaction.

"Ven," she said more loudly and directly into his rather large ear, "Get up."

He seemed to shift partially, but then folded his ears downward so that they were pressed against his skull. Ember frowned briefly, before poking him sharply on his exposed back. There was a slight twitch, but no other response.

Ember shook her head and muttered, "Mew, is everyone in your family a heavy sleeper?" with a hint of irritation, as she poked him several more times to no effect.

A booming voice sounded from the other side of the door. "What the hell's going on in there?" it demanded, impatient and annoyed in its tone.

"I'm getting him!" Ember retorted snappishly, her claws finding the black collar around his neck and pulling it a bit. This elected a slight growl as the quadruped curled in on himself more into what appeared to be a defensive posture.

Ember sighed and rolled her eyes briefly before giving his ear an irritated nip with her sharp teeth. "I'm targeting your tail next," she warned. Ven continued to remain inactive, though his tail notably curled up against his chest.

Somewhat amused, the charmander ran a claw down his spine until she found the base of his tail, then tugged at it a little so that it was pulled free. After it laid flat, she stroked it once before pulling it a little. "Teeth next," she said with a grin.

There was no response for a second, but abruptly, the ball of white fur rippled into motion as most of the muscles stretched out accompanying a long yawn.

"Alright, y-," he yawned loudly, "-you win. What do you want?" he managed to mutter, pawing the sleep from his eyes briefly. He blinked as he noticed Ember's slightly disappointed expression.

"Damn," she muttered, then shrugged. "That pushy houndoom wants you up. He said that if I didn't wake you, he would, so…"

"Oh." Ven said after a second. "Right, didn't we say we'd meet him at eight or something?" he said unsurely before the door to the room finally opened, revealing the dark-furred hound as he entered.

"Yeah, you did." He growled, glancing around briefly, tail lashing to and fro.

Ember shook her head. "Actually, HE said we'd be there at eight." She corrected, but glanced over as Ven began to stand up.

"Well, I guess we should-," he started before wincing and nearly falling down again. Ember's eyes briefly lit up in concern. "You alright?" she asked.

Ven nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. It just snuck up on me." He muttered, hopping down from the bed using rungs on the nearby banister. Ember followed, pausing briefly to grope the material of the mattress.

"Hunh, this _is_ softer…" she murmured to herself, before dropping to the floor again, following Ven as he began to make his way over to Karma, an evident limp in one leg. "I don't think it's smart to walk around in that condition…" she pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," Ven said gruffly. "Assuming one of us doesn't drag us on a pointless marathon again, I'll be fine."

"But we're with him," Ember said as she gestured to Karma. He chuckled briefly to himself, "So you've both got some fire to you. I'll remember that." He commentated.

"His tail's not on fire though. Yes. Last resort waking technique." Ember quipped back as they walked outside back to the main area of the mansion. Cerberus, standing outside the door, seemed somewhat relieved as Karma left but blinked in confusion as Ven exited.

"W-wait, Master Ven, where are you going?" he said quickly. Ven paused when he glanced back.

"What? Oh, to investigate Ceii's case of course-,"

Cerberus shook his head sternly. "Not like that, you aren't," he said, gesturing towards the bandages he wore. "What did I tell you? You need to let the bone set. If you do not, it will reattach improperly and you could be in pain for the remainder of your life. You need to give your body time to repair itself."

Ven's ear's drooped. "But… Ceii. I can't just abandon her."

"You've got associates who can perform the investigation while you rest," he said sternly. "You can go to the court when it's time for that, but nothing any more strenuous than that."

Karma chuckled to himself. He eyed Cerberus uncertainly for a moment or two. "I feel like I've met you before. But either way, you need to let a man prove his worth to the pack. If this is something he needs to do, there's nothing that can stop him, not even his own health." He said with a broad grin.

The gray-furred Umbreon gave Karma a blank look for a couple seconds. "Sir, with all due respect, you are a moron. Master Ven is allowing his emotions to cloud his common sense." He said with a hint of force to it. Karma blinked briefly, but smirked and backed down.

"I have to go." Ven said adamantly. "I don't have anyone I can send in my place."

"He said you have assistants." Ember added in quickly, glancing briefly at Cerberus. Ven shook his head. "No I don't. I'm not sure where he got that impression from."

"What about the two who helped you with the investigation previously? Master Orin and Miss Tiris?"

"…You're kidding, right?" Ven asked, deadpan.

"They helped last time." Cerberus said firmly. "They'll help again today, I'm sure."

"But Orin's insane! And he hates me! And he doesn't have an inkling how the legal system works, or cares! I'm still not sure how he got viable evidence last time." Ven whined, ear twitching worriedly. Even as he stood in place, one could tell which leg he favored.

Cerberus responded calmly. "Orin cares for his sisters. I find it unlikely he'd do something to hurt them. And Miss Tiris has a fine head on her shoulders, she will prevent him from doing anything too out of line."

"Heh… if I may cut in…" Karma said with unusual grace. "They're also gunna be with me. Who DOES know the legal system. Pup, crawl back into your expensive den and go over your papers, or review the evidence, or make love to your mate. Whatever you need to do to be ready for the court hearing.

"What?" Ember muttered after a moment, cheeks quickly darkening as they flushed. Ven shook his head, not particularly phased and immediately seeming weary of all the arguments. He sighed loudly.

"Fine, I suppose you have a point. Karma, I assume you have all the details on the case thusfar?" he questioned. Karma gave him a wolfish grin.

"Done better. I had a word with the judge over a couple of orans. I think I'm rather up to speed, don't worry about that." He said nonchalantly.

Ven sighed again, his tail flicking briefly. "Then I leave it to you. Ember, do you think you could help me back to my room? It's getting kinda hard to walk on my own."

"Hm? O-oh, sure." She responded, walking over to help prop him up. It didn't evade notice that her blush, while fading, had returned a little when he spoke to her. After a few seconds of fumbling, both of them managed a rough position that allowed either of them to move, and slowly made their way back to Ven's room.

"Have a good rest, Master Ven." Cerberus said with a slight hint of relief as he passed.

"Thanks, Cer." He mumbled, glancing over at Karma as he stalked over to another part of the mansion. He sighed.

"Karma… I hope you know what you're doing…"


	41. The Memories of Xanatos pt1

**Act 3 – Death in the Family**

**Chapter 10**

Orin was always a bit of an odd bird.

That, of course, was putting it mildly. Orin was quite firmly lodged in his own little world, and it seemed unlikely that he'd ever poke his head out again. He wasn't an amusing eccentric; he was a poisonous friend, his morals were unstable, and he was quite possibly the last person you ever wanted on your side. He kept a tally of the organizations and groups he had periodically joined and turned coat on, and it was rather telling about his character that he rarely had reasons for doing this.

Still, if there was one thing that the jolteon felt he was completely devoted to, it was his family. Well, some of his family. A small fraction of it, really, but it still counted.

His twin sisters, Ceii and Ceila. He valued both of them far above anything of his own, especially his own life. He knew he was scarcely better than scum, and didn't really care. If anything, he embraced existence as a lowlife. But when it came to those two females, he'd do anything –literally anything- he was physically capable of to help them.

He'd thought one of them was gone forever when Ceila's ship sunk. Out of shame, he severed all connections to his family and involved himself deeply in various morally reprehensible groups and criminal organizations. He'd even spent a year or so in a cult, over in Sinnoh, before he tired of the cold weather.

Ceila wasn't dead. And when he found this out, he did whatever he could to meet up with her. When he discovered she was imprisoned by the Rockets, he made the necessary arrangements to spring her free. It was a cruel twist of fate that, just after rediscovering one of his sisters, he learned of the fate that had befallen the other.

Orin didn't like Ven, and normally wouldn't help him even if his life depended on it. But when it was Ceii's life on the line, it was another matter entirely; when he'd been told that he would be investigating for clues again, the thought of refusing never crossed his mind.

The thought of failing didn't either. If Ven didn't succeed in springing her from jail, Orin figured he'd do things his way. But his way would likely involve multiple homicides and make Ceii a fugitive, so he figured he should leave that option until it was entirely called for.

It was for all those reasons that Orin found himself with Tiris scribbling notes behind him and that strange houndoom attorney regarding him with quizzical bemusement, wearing a brown cloak tied around his neck and a strange, indescribable detective's hat perched between his ears.

"The game is afoot," he declared, briefly wondering if he should have added a pipe to the ensemble.

Karma raised one of his eyebrows and grinned slightly. "Indeed."

Cerberus approached from a nearby room, briefly noting the three of them. Orin rather liked the grey-furred umbreon; he was persistently unflappable, even in the face of the totally ridiculous. A little stuck up, but at least he could be respected a bit.

"I assume you intend to aid Master Karma then, Master Orin and Miss Tiris?"

"Indeed." Orin said while smoking his imaginary pipe. He grinned a little, and headed towards the door. Tiris blinked a little, and paused in her note scribbling.

'_Where are you going?' _She asked, to which Orin chuckled and responded by glancing over his shoulder. "Well? C'mon, the plot's not going to find us if we just sit inside all day. We need to get moving."

Karma shook his head and chuckled, walking after the jolteon at his own pace. "Fair enough," he said with a hint of intrigue in his voice. "But you don't even know where we're going."

Orin paused briefly at the door to open it, then continued on his way down the stone steps, taking a significant amount of time before answering. "I know where we're going. Evidence, right? So, the crime scene?"

The houndoom shook his head. "Not quite. The police already combed that sector, and I trust them to do a good enough job to grab everything in plain sight. In any case, I believe the key to this case lies more in the testimony than hard evidence, which is why our perpetrator has been so careful in memory wiping the people involved."

The jolteon continued walking, even as they exited Ven's property onto the cobbled streets. He chose a direction at random, which was evidently in the direction they wanted as Karma didn't speak up.

Tiris glanced upward like she was saying something, but neither male seemed to hear. After a moment, an unfamiliar voice rang out.

"…Why is your mouth so heavily shielded, Karma?"

Orin paused, blinked and glanced around. "…Who said that?" he said in honest curiosity. Tiris paused, and her usual neutral face turned to annoyance briefly. "I am capable of talking without telepathy," she muttered. Orin stared at her with wide eyes.

"Your voice… it's just a little different when you're speaking telepathically and physically. For one, you actually sound like a girl with the later."

Tiris looked annoyed, which on the usually emotionless kadabra, was significant. Karma chuckled a little.

"I'd been wondering why you've been so quiet. Your voice is just a twinge higher-pitched than average, dear." He said with a wide smirk. "I keep my mind heavily fortified at all times, as I'd rather not have valuable data extracted from my brain by an opportunistic psychic. You've got vocal chords, use them."

The kadabra still seemed a little peeved off, but it faded quickly. "What I was going to ask is who we're going to be interviewing. Like you said, everyone involved had their memory wiped, which makes them difficult to get information from."

Karma shrugged as he continued to walk. "Difficult, but certainly not impossible. The most thorough kill is always the most direct."

Orin's pace slowed briefly, before picking up again. "We're going to see Ceii?" he said in what he hoped was a casual tone. Karma seemed to buy it as he nodded.

"Indeed, Orin. But first things first," he chuckled a little to himself. "I can't work alone. Wolves work in packs. You and girly there are here, but I'll need a subordinate I can work with. Someone I can order around unconditionally if I need something. An aid, if you will."

Orin's ear twitched. "In that case, you should have brought one."

The houndoom shrugged slightly. "It didn't occur to me until just now. I was concerned with somewhat more important details of the investigation. In any case, all of my usual understudies are otherwise occupied. Know anybody up to the job?"

Orin paused thoughtfully as he ran some details over in his head. "Nope. But I will in a second," he said with a chuckle, briefly crackling with static. Tiris scribbled something in her notebook, and they continued walking in comparative silence, though he scanned the streets every now and then.

He took comparative interest in everyone who walked by, but ultimately didn't stop or question anyone. Once or twice he nearly took the wrong path, only for Karma to nudge him onto the proper one and chuckle at his expense. Orin largely ignored him and crossed the street, suddenly making a beeline towards a tan shape on an adjacent street.

Tiris and Karma shared a look before taking after him. He made another turn, once again in the wrong direction, before approaching the small shape on the other side.

Said shape turned out to be a male leafeon, fairly young and not looking to be in any sort of hurry as he sauntered in a vague direction. He spared Orin a brief glance, and was given pause when the older eon approached him and grabbed his front paw.

Though he didn't say anything, the youth was obviously taken aback as Orin proceeded to survey the muscle mass in his front legs. The jolteon gave his foreleg a brief squeeze and nodded briefly to himself.

"Indeed… he'll do," he muttered, before turning to poke at more bits of the unfortunate leafeon. His subject blinked a little, flinching as he was prodded in the ribs.

"Uhm… what are you doi-" he started, before Orin waved at him to be quiet. He turned and glanced over at Karma and Tiris, both looking somewhat amused, though the later was still scribbling at her leisure.

"Found one." Orin declared proudly, his ear twitching briefly. "Eon, like me, so you know he's up to it. Flammable if he gets too uppity. Cute legs too… wait, male, that's not right. Uhm, cute… ears? Seems like a good choice regardless."

The other eon gave him and the others a rather blank look. "Uhm… huh?"

Karma cocked his head, shrugged and got to his feet while stifling another chuckle. "Fine by me," he turned his attention to the new recruit. "Hey pup, fall in line. You've just been drafted. Do what I say and don't make a fuss, and we'll get along fine."

"I've been what? For what?" the leafeon responded with some alarm, one of his leaftipped-ears pricking up suddenly.

Orin chuckled a little to himself at the responses he'd garnered, and spoke up as sincerely as he felt as he could manage. "You're going to help save my sister's life. Well, technically the hound is, but he needs someone to boss around to be useful. You're the most qualified person around here for the job."

"…wait, really?" came the response, slightly elated. Orin chuckled a little at his naiveté.

"More accurately…" Tiris chimed in, "you're the best suited according to Orin's arbitrary list qualities he sought out. But in essence, he's correct. We represent the defense in a current court case, in which his sister is the defendant. You do know what a trial is, right?"

Orin frowned a bit, but Tiris noted the leafeon's blank expression more. After a moment, he nodded a little.

"Uh… yeah. I think I know the basics," he muttered slightly, though he still looked a little lost.

"Good." Tiris said after a moment, ignoring Orin who'd decided to snicker at her voice again. "At the moment, we're investigating the circumstances of the murder, and intend to speak to the defendant herself about the matter. Orin is the defendant's sister, and Karma is a skilled defense attorney who has taken a personal interest in this case; however, he has requested an aide. Are you willing to help?"

the leafeon's expression was daunted by the mention of 'murder' briefly, but sprung back quickly. He seemed rather enthusiastic.

"Okay, that's fine. I've got time," he said, beaming a little. Orin rolled his eyes a little at the display, made a dramatic yawn, and got up. "Bored now. Let's go," he said as he stood up and walked off.

Karma rolled his eyes. "Wrong way, genius."

Without a word, Orin about-faced and started walking in the other direction. The others watched him go, and Karma sighed after a few moments. "That's still not the right way." He muttered, pointing out the correct street.

The leafeon chuckled a little as they got up and began to walk in the proper direction. Orin's quills seemed to twitch with annoyance at first as he muttered to himself, but fell in line soon enough. He looked upward at the sky and the roof of the buildings as they passed by, distractedly; nobody seemed inclined to break the resulting silence.

The eon youth seemed somewhat perplexed by the lack of talking, and glanced over at Orin every few minutes, as if wondering why his gaze was fixated on nothing in particular. At one point, he looked over to note the jolteon was now staring directly at him, and gave him a strange look as he was appraised.

"Sure you don't have a sister?" Orin questioned the leafeon. "You're pretty cute for a male. Almost seems like a waste."

The other shrugged a little. "a brother." He responded, trying not to give him much attention. Orin paused for a second and seemed to consider that.

"Cute?" he asked a moment later.

"What?" was the response.

"How cute is he?" he reiterated. "It better be pretty significant to make up for being male. You're pretty good, but I'd hope he's got a little more to offer."

The leafeon just shook his head and gave Orin a very weird look. Karma just chuckled a little to himself.

"Good, Pup, you can learn. Best not to give him any mind," he said still without turning around. "I know his type. Ignoring them is the only solution, I'm afraid."

His aide nodded a little, then paused, muttering a little under his breath. "Don't call me pup, please," he said in a short tone. He got a chuckle in response, and was rewarded with a flash of canine teeth as Karma glanced over with a broad smirk. "Take it as a blessing, Pup. You've got fewer expectations when you're a pup."

The eon furrowed his brow a little, "Fewer expectations of what?"

"To the pack of course," was the response, a hint of incredulity flavoring the tone. "What else would expect things of you?"

the leafeon shook his head a bit, obviously in confusion. "But which pack?" he asked after a moment.

Karma seemed to consider it for a moment. "My pack, of course. This city, of course, is all my territory and thus everyone in it is part of my pack, you included. I protect them from each other and punish those who would seek to sow discord or harm them- It's why I entered the study of law, after all."

He glanced over at the approaching shape of the detention center, before turning to give the a rueful grin.. "But in a more specific sense, this little group here is the pack in and of itself. Savvy?"

The leafeon gave a slight nod before following the others into the police center. A man sitting at a desk briefly glanced over at the new arrivals; Karma strolled over and exchanged a few words with him, while Orin busied himself in observing the walls. A couple landscape paintings were, for some reason, hung on the wall.

Orin didn't consider himself cultured, but he did admit he had a bit of a fondness for paintings. Still, these in particular weren't exactly inspired; a dull field of flowers, and some vaguely post-modern bit he assumed was intended to convey the notion of law or order. He couldn't imagine anyone particularly liking them, even mindless humans, but he supposed he couldn't fault what was essentially a miniature prison for having crappy artistic taste.

A few moments later, they got the wave in, and the group followed Karma as he lead them down a blank hallway. The walls were clinical white, and the doors all identical; there weren't any more pieces of art along the walls. Orin was starting to see a pattern. The farther from the administrative offices you got, the worse the décor became.

The houndoom-attorney stopped as they reached a propped-open door, and strolled in confidently, seating himself on the available stool facing a long, flat pane of thick glass set above a long table that bifurcated the room.

Orin noted that while the others had plain white walls, the stone walls of this one didn't seem to have any paint at all. They weren't grimy or dirty, but the plain grey was plainly unappealing. He noted two security cameras hung in the room- one on the side they entered from, and another in the opposite section- and the single security guard who stood, seemingly bored, leaning against the wall next to the opposite door.

All in all, it was a rather nondescript, dreary seeming place. Orin always hated these kinds of places, and not just because they resembled prisons so much. He could never put his paw on it, but there was just something depressing about seeing the comforts of the rooms of the management contrasted with the barren walls of the areas the inmates only got to see.

He walked over by Karma, and placed his paws on the table, glancing out into the opposite room. He wanted to see Ceii immediately, but he supposed there was no benefit to yelling at a random grunt. Karma paused and looked back at the leafeon, who was still standing around the door they entered through, looking fairly awkward.

"Pup, get up here and grab a pen. You're taking notes." He growled.

"Notes?" The eon said, blinking in surprise and slight confusion.

Karma stared at him for a moment and nodded. "…yes, notes. Document our conversation for evidence purposes."

The leafeon gave him a wide-eyed look that reminded Orin vaguely of a stantler in headlights- frozen, and not knowing what to do. He found it somewhat funny, and was slightly disappointed when Tiris came to the poor thing's rescue promptly.

The kadabra raised her hand and spoke mildly. "I think it would be best if I did that, Karma. I've already been taking notes thusfar, and its better if the record is penned by a single observant in order to reduce inconsistencies."

Karma grunted and shrugged while staring out the window again. "Whatever. Still get up here and make yourself useful, Pup."

The eon nodded, and made his way, somewhat meekly, to the houndoom's side. He briefly glanced at Orin before emulating his position, placing his front paws on the table in order to be able to look out. It wasn't a particularly comfortable position, but there was only one chair in the room and nobody seemed to be offering any extras. Karma seemed to be enjoying having a higher vantage point than the rest, and his tail twitched briefly.

After a short period of time, the door on the opposite side of the room opened, a burly officer walking out confidently. Around his wrist was a type black strap connected to a leash, which was attached to a small quadruped as she entered.

Orin could tell immediately that it was Ceii, even though she wasn't looking so much like herself. She held her tail and head low, as if in shame or exhaustion, and her pelt was sparse and thin-seeming; the strap of the leash was attached to a thick, heavy-seeming metal circlet around her neck that seemed uncomfortably tight.

When she reached the stool on her side, she carefully tried to push herself onto it, and failed twice. On her third attempt, she grunted and managed to pull herself up, panting briefly at the effort required before glancing blearily across the glass. Her blue eyes were tired and glazed, and for a few moments it didn't even seem like she was looking at anyone.

Orin didn't care, and just cracked a smile at seeing his sister again. If anything, she looked to be in better condition than the last time he'd came around to speak with her. "Hey, Ceii…" he said softly, grinning despite himself. "How're you holding up?"

Ceii blinked and shook her head slightly, as if awakening from a daydream. She smiled very slightly. "Hey, Orin," she responded with a hint of a grin. "Alright, I guess…" she muttered, a paw raising up to touch the ring around her neck a little. She winced slightly at the contact and put it back down.

Karma cleared his throat, attracting the espeon's attention. He put on a smile, which was far more sincere than the grins he'd given the others previously.

"Good morning, miss Ceii," he said with rehearsed eloquence. "My name is Karma. I'm a rather renown defense attorney around these parts. I was going to take your case to begin with, but your brother snapped it up before I had the opportunity, so I'm helping him with his investigation. I was wondering if you would consent to a few questions…" he said inquisitively. Behind him came the snicker-scratch of Tiris' pencil writing quickly on her paper pad, while he noted from the corner of his eye that the leafeon at his side had been leaning forward to get a better look at the defendant.

Neither of these passed by Ceii, who blinked as she glanced over at Tiris and Karma's assistant before turning back to face the houndoom. "Sure, I guess I could do that. Not much else to do here anyway," she muttered to herself.

Karma noted her glance. "The kadabra is Tiris, a friend of Ven's who's also helping with his investigation. The leafeon is my assistant. I don't know his name. Don't pay either any particular mind," he said briskly, to which his assistant frowned.

He grumbled slightly with a vague frown, "my name is Leaf," more to Ceii than the houndoom. Karma gave him a slight glance while the eon behind the glass just giggled a little before smiling a bit. "Hello Leaf, Tiris."

Leaf gave her a bit of a smile back, when Karma cut in. "In any case, I'll need you to tell us about what happened on the day of the murder, miss."

"I don't think I can help you with that," Ceii said in response, her grin fading as she shook her head. I don't recall anything from that time."

"Anything you can think of would be useful…" Karma ventured, but Ceii still shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I went to sleep the previous day, and when I woke up, I was surrounded by the police. I don't know of anything that happened between that."

Leaf piped up again. "When did you go to sleep, and where were you when you woke up?" he asked curiously. Karma shot him a bit of an amused look. "I thought I was the one asking questions here."

There was a pause as Ceii considered the question. "Well, when I went to sleep, I was in my home, in my bed. And when I woke up I was…" she quieted down slightly, "at the murder site, unfortunately."

Karma nodded. "A small seaside forest on the outskirts of the city. There's nothing of particular note there, so it begs the question of why she'd be there in the first place. Would you have any idea, miss?" he asked, cocking his head slightly. His eyes had a certain different depth to them while he was questioning, as if he was blocking out everything else except the witness and himself- which was of course disturbed when Leaf piped in once more.

"Did you maybe teleport?" he hazarded after a second or two, an ear twitching at the thought. Ceii paused for a second, and her cheeks showed a touch of color for the first time since they'd seen her as she averted her eyes. "Well, uhm…" she started, before Karma saved her from having to answer.

"The miss is incapable of teleportation, or indeed, just about any focused telepathic ability. Her medical condition makes it nigh impossible for her to use a specific technique at will," he informed without taking his gaze off of the prospective witness.

Leaf was somewhat surprised and embarrassed by this revelation and stammered off an apology as his cheeks glowed with a matching blush. Karma ignored this and shook his head. "So, again witness. Did you know anything about the scene of the crime before it happened?" he articulated once more.

Ceii hesitated a second. "No, I haven't. I've never been to those woods before in my life. Though…" she paused again. "There was something… no, sorry."

The houndoom frowned a little. "I'm sorry, what was that?" he asked, as Leaf raised his head again, looking curious.

"Well… it's just, there's something, on the tip of my tongue… I think I'd heard of that place before. But… no, I'm pretty sure it's just a feeling…" she muttered moreso to herself, her tail lifting briefly and flicking, as if in irritation at her own memory.

The houndoom shook his heady. "Let's not have any of that, now where did you hear of that forest before? This could be critical. It's vastly important you remember this detail."

Ceii paused, then closed her eyes, as if she were focusing. The room was silent for a couple seconds, when the bracer around her neck suddenly made a loud buzzing sound, causing her to abruptly flinch and cry out in pain. The human guards notably tensed, the one holding the leash renewing his grip.

Leaf looked concerned, but Karma seemed mainly intrigued.

"Are you okay?" the former asked, while Orin growled a little at the reaction of the guards. Ceii nodded a little after a moment, and settled down again; evidently, the jolt hadn't been too taxing on her, having mainly just taken her by surprise.

"I think I'm fine." She said after a second. Leaf looked tentative. "Do you think you could… try to remember again?" he said after a second, looking a little apprehensive about the question himself. Ceii paused silently for a couple seconds before Karma spoke up again.

He spoke firmly. "Ceii, it's drastically important you remember that bit of information. You released psychic energy when you concentrated on it; there's obviously a block placed within your own mind. Someone doesn't want you thinking back on it, and because of that, they've signaled to us that said information is important- to them, and to us. Now, you need to think. Where did you hear of those woods before?"

She shook her head and responded weakly. "But I don't-" she protested feebly. Karma snarled slightly at her.

"Yes you do. Your mind is the only thing preventing you from remembering. It's up to you, and solely you, to release it again." He growled at her, making her flinch again. Leaf turned on him, frowning. "Don't pressure her," he growled himself.

There was a second, and then a sigh. Ceii closed her eyes briefly before opening them. "Okay…" she said tentatively. "But it hurts…"

"You'll need to tough it out. There's no other way to beat them at their own game." Karma said grimly, disregarding the looks Leaf was giving him. "They don't believe you're strong enough to break through their failsafe, which is the weak link in their chain. Focus. I'll help you." He said soothingly.

Ceii nodded a little, and after a second, closed her eyes. The room fell into an unnatural silence as both the defendant and attorney seemed to enter a trancelike state; both Leaf and Orin were watching Ceii, whereas the guards were more uncomfortable with the houndoom, and were watching him carefully.

Soon enough, the collar around Ceii's neck started buzzing loudly. This time, however, she seemed not to take note of it, though a couple tears rolled down from her eyes; the guards glanced at eachother warily, and the one not holding the leash took a careful step backward and reached for his radio.

Orin, noting the movement, growled a little at the guard and caused him to freeze, followed immediately by Karma's loud part, his face contorted into the pained visage of a being slowly burning alive. The collar stopped buzzing and Ceii let out a long sight before she started swaying a little on the chair; after a couple moments, she lost her footing and tumbled off the side onto the ground below. Karma remained seated but took massive, heaving gulps of air as he rapidly inhaled and exhaled.

Leaf craned his head to see under the table as Karma composed himself. Orin jumped onto the table in worry, his facial expression incredibly taken aback.

"W-what did you do?" he demanded. "Did you kill her? If you did I swear I'll…" he snarled, before Karma rolled his eyes.

"Please…" he managed to eek out after a couple seconds of recuperation. "I don't kill people. I'm an attorney." He muttered sourly. "At worst, she's unconscious. That collar's not going to help either. She's got a bunch of psychic energy bouncing around in her head, unable to be released. It was hard to work through it, but I think we managed to remove the block," he muttered after a second.

Leaf blinked and glanced back at the dark type. "The collar? Why's it on?" he asked. Karma paused for a second, and cracked his neck before answering.

"Psychic restraining collars are standard issue for imprisoned psychics, and they're starting to put them on other species too. They block off psychic emission, which makes them a lot easier to deal with. For most psychics, it's no big deal. Their body instinctively stops attempting to create psychic energy when they're unable to get rid of it. Ceii's body, on the other hand, is physically incapable of NOT releasing power, so all the collar does is cork it." He muttered.

Leaf winced a little, and glanced over as he noticed the guards going to help Ceii get up. "Why can't they let her release some of it now and then? If you know of it, someone else must…" he muttered.

Karma shook his head. "Against protocol. Giving a psychic a single opening is often enough for them to escape, and there's few things that can stop one without a suppressor on."

"Is it against protocol to be cruel?" Leaf shot back, starting to sound indignant. Karma grinned a little morbidly and gave a slightly chuckle.

"Yes. But their definition of 'cruel' is a bit more restrictive than yours is, I'm afraid." He muttered. "I already applied on medical grounds to have her released from the restraint. Or at least have it replaced with a lower-power suppressor that would allow SOME of the energy to disperse. I even suggested regular periods without it in order to restore her health, on the grounds she can't use teleport. They were all vetoed."

Leaf paused, and as he listened, his frown deepened. "Why?" he asked.

Karma shrugged. "Hell if I know. I didn't even get the name of who keeps blocking me. It's why I got so interested in this case to begin with, usually the enforcement here is happy to do anything I ask of them."

"…Wait," came the soft demand from the other side of the room. Karma and Leaf both glanced over to note Ceii, held in the arms of one of the guards, looking at them with an incredibly tired expression and a soft voice.

"Annabelle… She s-said there was going to be someone to meet me there." She paused a little to collect her thoughts. "She said someone was… an admirer. It was supposed to be romantic. A seaside forest, during the full moon…" she muttered.

Karma spoke softly. "Who did you meet there?"

She said something too softly to hear, but shook her head. "I'm sorry, Karma, but that's really all I know. I'm not strong enough to remember anything else. S-sorry…" she muttered, before sighing again and closing her eyes, asleep almost immediately. The guards hesitated for only a second before carrying her out the door and out of sight.

Leaf paused, then glanced over at Karma blankly. "Well… now what?" he asked.

Karma grinned a little, as a hellhound only could. "Well, we have an actual clue to follow now. We know why she went to the murder site, and we have a name to follow. Annabelle."

Orin paused to himself, and shook his pelt slightly, which discharged a little. "Annabelle…" he mused to himself. "Where have I heard that name before?" he asked himself. Leaf glanced at him inquisitively before Karma chuckled again.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did. She has a bit of a fascination with your family, after all," he said with a broad grin. "As it so happens, I'm personally acquainted with her, so this will be far easier than it normally would be."

He hopped off his chair, and walked over to the exit of the room. Before he left, he hesitated and turned back, still grinning widely. "Though… now that I think about it, considering her tastes… it was probably good fortune you grabbed Leaf for us, Orin," he said with a smirk before leaving.

Orin blinked, but then chuckled, following behind. Leaf stood in the room for a second, alone except for Tiris as she scratched the last couple words into her bad.

"…Her, what?" he muttered a little, before shaking his head and following the rest of the pack.


End file.
